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Sad end for a giant on a beach north of Phuket

Huge Whale Flops on Beach North of Phuket

Sunday, October 10, 2010
A HUGE sperm whale has been washed onto a beach north of Phuket and that's where it will stay, buried under the sand.

The whale, a female, was spotted about 2pm yesterday by a local resident and fisherman, Morhamard Leebamrung, 45, at Ban Bor Dan beach, which is south of Thai Muang in Phang Nga.

The giant of the deep measured 10 metres from tip to tail and weighed as much as 700 kg, said Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, of the Phuket Marine Biology Centre. He said the whale was probably approaching adulthood.

It had been dead for about two weeks, and may have died a natural death before it was washed ashore, Dr Kongkiat said.

Female sperm whales can grow to 12 metres while bull whales have been known to grow to 20 metres. They are the largest creatures in the sea. The whales usually live in pods, or groups.

Dr Kongkiat said sperm whales were not uncommon off Phuket and Phang Nga, but favored water up to 100 metres deep where their preferred prey was large squid.

Some samples were taken from the dead mammal. A backhoe was used to bury the big creature on the beach.
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Comments

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"They are the largest creatures in the sea".

I thought that honor belonged to the Blue Whale?

Posted by Sir Burr on October 11, 2010 10:23

Editor Comment:

You're right. Blue whales are even bigger. The sperm whale is '' the largest living toothed animal,'' according to Wikipedia.

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Unlikely that the whale died of natural causes. An examination of the stomach contents may have revealed that it had died from injestion of plastic, fishing nets and other debris that is polluting the Andaman sea.

A walk along the 'pristine sands' of Mai Khao beach today was a real eye opener. I have never seen so much trash washed up, and it gets worse every year. The high tides will clear much of it in the coming weeks.

More marine life will be destroyed if nothing is done about the amount of pollution in Phuket. As for tourists returning to Phuket? Maybe, but I'll be finding somewhere less polluted and with much less development for my next holiday.

Posted by Mac on October 11, 2010 11:19

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Both the land and sea are full of litter, same same Mac!

Posted by Mike .Hunt on October 11, 2010 15:50


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