Dead Whale Shark Found Floating Off Pulau Pangkor Coast With Missing Fin
The 5.7m-long shark was only five years old.
By May Vin Ang — 25 Jan 2021, 11:29 AM
The carcass of a 1.5-tonne whale shark with one of its fins missing was recently found floating in the waters off Pulau Pangkor
According to Bernama, Rantau Abang Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) Marine Mammal Branch chief Mohd Tamimi Ali Ahmad said fishermen found the dead 5.7m-long shark floating by them around 3pm on Friday, 22 January.
After being notified, a joint operation to recover the body of the Rhincodon Typus was conducted by the Rantau Abang FRI, Kampung Acheh FRI, and the My Teluk Senangin fishery community.
They found the shark's carcass near the Damar Laut Jetty at 6.30pm the next day.
"The carcass was found in a mangrove area, which made it difficult for us to look for it," Mohd Tamimi told reporters at the jetty on Sunday, 24 January.
They believe the five-year-old male whale shark had been dead for four days before it was found
Mohd Tamimi said the carcass was towed to the Kampung Acheh Fisheries Jetty for a post-mortem, which found that its right pectoral fin had been cut off.
Meanwhile the post-mortem also revealed that the creature's stomach was excessively bloated with 37.9 litres of water and contained garbage including branches and plastics.
The FRI chief said they are still investigating the whale shark's cause of death and are not yet ruling out poachers
Mohd Tamimi said irresponsible parties often kill sharks for their fins as a bowl of shark fin soup could cost anything from RM100 to RM1,000.
He added that the sharks are normally found south of Pulau Pangkor at Pulau Sembilan, Bagan Datuk where the area is rich in anchovies and prawns.
He reminded the public not to disturb the animals as they are an endangered marine species protected under the Fisheries Act 1985.
