A shark weighing over 500 kilograms was captured in the coastal area of Yumurí, Baracoa, according to a viral post in the Facebook group "BARIGUA EN MI CORAZÓN. Culture and tradition."
The photographs, shared by Joelmis Núñez, the group's administrator, show about twenty people—including children, youths, and even a police officer—gathered on the rocky shore around the animal, with the water tinted red and the shark already cut and processed into sections.
The comments on the post sparked a debate about the species of the animal.
Some users identified it as a hammerhead shark, while others pointed it out as a mako shark.
"It is a shark from the great depths of the ocean. Mako shark, harmless," wrote one.
Another commentator issued a more serious warning: "It's a basking shark; its meat is not fit for consumption, not even for a Cuban. They will ingest mercury and urea through their very eyes. This is an animal that is respected and protected by the rest of the world. But well... Cuba has already stopped being part of the world."
Both species are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates their trade.
But the scene does not surprise those who know the reality of Baracoa. The province of Guantánamo reports a 78.7% of households in a state of hunger, according to the Food Monitor Program (FMP), one of the highest rates in the country.
Nationwide, a survey revealed that one in three Cuban households experienced hunger in 2025, and in April 2026, the FMP estimated that 96.91% of the population did not have adequate access to food.
In this context of desperation, Cubans have turned to consuming unconventional wildlife. The hunting of insectivorous birds, iguanas, jutías, and snakes has become a survival strategy in recent years, and even pitirres were sold for 400 pesos in some informal markets.
It is not the first time a large shark has been caught off the coast of Baracoa: in April 2022, fishermen captured another specimen.
"In Cuba, even the predators aren't safe from being eaten by the Cubans; they take a hand at everything," summarized a commentator.
Another put it more bluntly: "That shark didn't take the pills and look where it ended up, kid, there hunger rises before the sun."
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