Whale shark found beached in Batangas

BATANGAS City – Residents of Barangay De la Paz Pulot Aplaya found a 17-foot whale shark, locally known as butanding, beached along the shoreline here Sunday morning.

Rodolfo Quicho Jr., executive director of the First Philippine Conservation Inc., said local fisherfolk found the butanding (scientific name Rhincodon typus) around 5 a.m. It was gasping for breath and looked frail.

Villagers pulled the dead butanding, estimated to weigh one ton, from the shore.  

The fishermen reported the incident to the village chief, who in turn reported it to the officers of the local Bureau of Fisheries and Veterinarians in the Batangas City Hall.

Veterinarians from the city’s veterinary office gathered specimens from the dead fish to determine the cause of death.

An initial examination of the butanding’s carcass showed no signs of wounds or injuries from dynamite fishing.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza had ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the whale shark’s death.

Government officials also warned residents not to sell the flesh because it is against the law, since the butanding is considered endangered.

“If only we can sell it, we could earn as much as P60,000 with the fin, but then it’s prohibited,”  a fisherman told The STAR.

Under the supervision of government officials and an environmentalist group, the fish was chopped into pieces and subsequently buried in a dumpsite in Barangay Sico.

Quicho said the Verde Island passage found in the province’s waters indicates that the area is a rich feeding ground for marine life, including whale sharks and dolphins.

“That’s why we’re also guarding the area so as not to endanger their existence in Batangas and nearby provinces,” Quicho said.

The whale shark is a slow filterfeeding shark that is the largest living fish species.

It has a huge mouth, measuring up to 4 feet (1.4 m) wide. Its mouth is at the very front of its head and not on the underside of the head like most sharks.

The whale shark has distinctive light-yellow markings (random stripes and dots) on its very thick dark gray skin. Its skin is up to 4 inches (10 cm) thick. There are three prominent ridges running along each side of the shark’s body.