SURAT THANI: A 10-tonne male Bryde’s whale found dead off the coast of Chumphon was believed to have died from illness, veterinarians say.
The Marine and Coastal Resources and Development Centre on Saturday revealed the results of the necropsy conducted at Suan Son beach in Surat Thani.
The mammal had scars on its palate with its skin peeling off. There were no traces of food in its digestive tract, and only fish eyes were found in the stomach and small fishbones in its large intestine. Its internal organs were too rotten and the the exact cause of its death could not be established, said veterinarians.
However, the whale was believed to have died from sickness, they said.
The whale was found floating dead off Chumphon by a fishing boat on Thursday and was towed to Suan Son beach in Tha Chana district of Surat Thani. It was 10 years old, 10.8 metres long and weighed 10 tonnes, according to the Marine and Coastal Resources Department. It was one of the biggest ever seen in the country, where about 60 Bryde’s whale sightings have been recorded.
The department said the animal’s characteristics matched those of “Jao Dhen”, a whale found in the upper Gulf of Thailand and registered in July 2017.
Wichai Somroop, director of the Marine and Coastal Resources and Development Office in Surat Thani, said that while the necropsy results pointed to illness, authorities were awaiting the pathology results.
He has asked officials to ask local residents and fishermen whether they had ever spotted the whale before it was found dead.
He said it was possible that the whale might have suffered injuries before falling ill. However, it had no broken bones.
“Other possible reasons such as the whale being trapped by fishing nets or struck by a large trawler have not yet been ruled out,” said Mr Wichai.
The Surat Thani governor has sent a letter to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources seeking permission to keep the bones of the whale for study purposes. Provincial authorities plan to build a museum in Tha Chana district, said Wisoot Intharakamnoed, the chief of Tha Chana district.
Local residents on Saturday invited Buddhist monks to perform a religious rite for the whale at the beach, as they said it was a great loss to see an animal of such great size dead.
In a related development, an initial necropsy of the carcass of another male Bryde’s whale found in Samut Prakan was inconclusive.
The internal organs of the whale were too rotten for the cause of death to be established, said Jatuporn Buruspat, director-general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.
The rotten carcass of the whale, weighing about 8 tonnes and 8.3 metres long, was found in a mangrove forest on the coast of Phra Samut Chedi district in Samut Prakan on Thursday morning.
Workers take samples from the carcass of the 10.8-tonne Bryde’s whale on Suan Son beach in Surat Thani. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)
