Bloated carcass of Bryde’s whale spotted off the coast of Phechaburi
The bloated carcass of a Bryde’s whale was spotted in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of Phetchaburi province on Thursday and was retrieved for a necropsy.
The crew of "Chok Omsup", a fishing boat, spotted a huge carcass drifting in the sea about five kilometres north of Cha-am beach in Phetchaburi.
The crew alerted the Phetchaburi Marine Resources Conservation Centre in the morning and the director of the centre, Chokchai Atikkapalee, dispatched officials to the Saphan Hin pier for checking.
The fishing boat towed the carcass to the pier to wait for the marine officials.
Veterinarians and officials from the centre further towed the carcass to the Phraram Hok Army Base for dissecting the body to check possible causes of the death.
Preliminary inspection found that the whale might have been dead for about 10 days. It was estimated to be 13 metres long and weighing about 10 tonnes.
The sea off Phetchaburi coast is well-known for tourists to take boats out to see Bryde’s whales. Regularly-spotted whales would be named for tourists to get familiar with.
Officials said they were not certain whether the dead whale was among those named.
