Main image via hurriyetdailynews + Facebook
Back in July, Terengganu had its first ever sightings of a pair of orcas (aka killer whales) and a pod of pilot whales in its waters on separate occasions.
Now it seems that Johor has encountered its own whale shark, but unfortunately, this one wasn’t swimming free.
via GIPHY
The carcass of an endangered whale shark was found floating in the waters of Tanjung Tohor on Saturday morning and was taken by fishermen to the Parit Jawa Fishermen’s Jetty.
According to Muar District Fisheries Office head, Mohd Faris Adman, noted that the five tonne carcass was found about seven nautical miles away before being brought to shore.
Image via Facebook
Mohd Faris also noted that the cause of death of the massive whale shark is still unknown but the carcass will be sent for post-mortem to the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) in Rantau Abang, Terengganu.
“The whale shark is estimated to be 6.1m long and 1.5m wide while its gender is yet to be identified,” he told reporters. “The Resource Protection Unit will open an investigation paper to find out the cause of death including complete information on the age, sex and actual size of the fish.”
Image via The Star
“We believe the whale shark was lost,” Mohd Faris added. “It may have strayed from its original habitat as the fishermen have never seen the species here before.”
The Muar District Fisheries Office head also noted that the whale shark will be preserved once the post-mortem process has been completed.
As the whale shark is an endangered marine species, fishermen have been advised to contact the relevant agency if they were to come across such species.
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We hope the authorities are able to find out why the whale shark ended up in Johor’s waters and hopefully no other carcasses of endangered species will be found.
RIP Whale Shark.
Info via The Star
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