Due to overfishing and illegal shark finning, sharks are facing extinction with many species announced as critically endangered for their major decline in population over the past few years. Private organizations have come together to protest against the act of shark finning, hoping to reduce the market demands for their fins and meat. In fact, many restaurants and companies have begun boycotting shark products to protect the endangered animal.
Douyin video shows ‘baby shark’ grilled
A Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) video recently gained fame when it shows what appears to be a baby white shark being grilled. Its fins and gills can be seen clearly over the grill in the 7-second video, leaving netizens shocked and angry. However, the colours of the shark do not match the species as it was purple and green.
It turns out to be carved brinjal! After watching the video for a while, netizens noticed that it was indeed a vegetable in disguise and were amused by it. The carved brinjal really resembled the apex predator with its intricate details. It even had eyes!
At the start of the video, the ‘baby shark’ was grilled over the BBQ pit, then later on seasoned with chilli powder.
Video went viral after fooling netizens
The short video eventually went viral with over 133.7 million likes, dominating the Chinese social media platform for a while. Because of its great resemblance to the Great White Shark, some netizens condemned the user for grilling an endangered animal. However, it took other netizens to convince them that it was in fact brinjal.
“Consuming sharks is illegal, I have already informed the police.”
“You have to clean the fish before grilling it. How about this? I’ll take care of the fins, you cut the arms (clearly joking).”
Meanwhile, many others complimented the carving work on the vegetable and praised its similarities.
“It looks so real.”
“This is so creative!”
“How did you carve a brinjal into a shark like that?”
The video even inspired another Douyin user to upload a tutorial on how to carve the brinjal into a shark. Here’s the tutorial if you wish to prank your friends!
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