Lingayen gives VIP treatment to frequent visitor whale sharks

SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan — These "visitors" of the Lingayen Gulf are treated like VIPs (very important persons). They are given special treatment, abundant food and even security escorts to ensure their 24-hour protection.

But they are not persons. They are whale sharks, the crowd drawers from Donsol, Sorsogon which found a second home in Lingayen Gulf.

Officials from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Philippine Maritime Police, Philippine Coast Guard and Department of Environment and Natural Resources are always on their toes whenever these "visitors" swim around the Gulf.

This could be the reason why these whale sharks, known as butandings in Sorsogon, love to migrate along the Lingayen Gulf recently, Westley Rosario, BFAR center chief, told The STAR.

Last Wednesday, five of these whale sharks that belong to Rhincodon pypus specie, were sighted anew in the coastal waters of Barangay Sobol here which is still part of the Lingayen Gulf. They measure about five meters long each.

Two days earlier, two of them amused beachgoers in Bonuan beach, Dagupan City when they appeared along the BLISS site area of the beach.

Called supok by local fishermen, these whale sharks are considered the biggest fish in the world. They serenely swim through the rich waters of Sorsogon and they have become one of the area’s tourist attractions.

Their presence, too, in the Lingayen Gulf caught the interest of Department of Tourism officials who consider these sea mammals as a boon for tourism in the province.

Last May, two of these whale sharks entertained beachgoers in Lingayen beach as they played with them. Two more were seen a week later in the nearby Binmaley beach. But earlier in January this year, about seven of them were seen in the coastal barangay of Sabangan in Lingayen.

Rosario said these sea creatures now enjoy swimming here. They looked very healthy and they even entertain people by showing them some of their antics the way dolphins do in the movie Free Willy.

"These whale sharks are migrating slowly. They usually appear during the months of January to May but their frequent sightings now have puzzled BFAD officials," Rosario said.