The images were received by the Stop the Trawler Alliance.

The images show a shark hanging from its tail and slumped on the back deck of the vessel.

Stop the Trawler coordinator, Rebecca Hubbard, says the leaked images dramatically increase the pressure on Government to release footage of the Geelong Star’s treatment of the protected animal, which has created uproar ever since government, industry and crew made conflicting claims about the whale sharks survival in February.

“It’s time for the government to come clean and release the footage of the whale shark incident” Ms Hubbard said. “The public wants the truth; releasing the actual evidence is the only way the Government can put this controversy to bed and restore public confidence in management of our fisheries.”

“This type of leak - showing a possibly dead whale shark strung up by its tail – reignite concerns that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority haven’t revealed the whole truth about the monster trawlers treatment of protected species. There is no way the government can in all honesty now repeat that it isn’t in the public interest to release video footage of what actually happened,” Ms Hubbard said.

MORE TO COME.