Photo: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Facebook
Thailand: Corpse of wounded Bryde’s Whale found off Prachuap Khiri Khan
23rd February 2017;The body of a
BrudaBryde’s Whale (Balaenoptera edeni) was found off the shore of Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Thursday.Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park chief Rungroj Assawakuntharin and a Kui Buri Fisheries officer went for inspection after being alerted by fishermen that they had found the body of a large sea creature on a pile of rocks 2 kilometres off Sam Phraya beach.
The officials took photographs of the dead Whale, which was stuck in the rocks, before forwarding it to Sophon Thongdee, deputy director general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), who confirmed that it was a Bryde’s Whale.
The Whale, estimated to be four to five metres in length, has a wound in the middle section of its body. It is believed that the creature died three to five days ago before the waves carried its body to the rocks. DMCR will send officials on Friday to conduct an autopsy on the body to find the cause of death.
Source: The Nation
The taxonomy of the Bryde’s Whale is still far from settled; what we call the Bryde’s Whale has been split into two subspecies or even distinct species by some authorities: the true Bryde’s Whale, a larger species found in tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide (Balaenoptera brydei), and the Eden’s Whale, a smaller form that may be restricted to coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific (Balaenoptera edeni). Both species(?) have been recorded from tropical waters of Southeast Asia.