Stranded, wounded giant whale dies in Quezon

DEEP-SEADWELLER | This wounded 50-foot-long giant sperm whale, found by fishermen inside Hook Bay near the shoreline of Barangay Bato in Panukulan town, Quezon province, on Sunday morning, died on Monday, May 11, 2024, despite efforts to nurture it back to health. (Photo from the Panukulan Municipal Goverment)

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — A giant sperm whale (Physeter catodon) was stranded in the waters off the island town of Panukulan, Quezon province, on Sunday but died on Monday afternoon despite efforts to save it.

Jay Lim, project officer of the environmentalist group Tanggol Kalikasan, said the whale was found by fishermen inside Hook Bay near the shoreline of Barangay Bato on Sunday morning.

However, the giant sea mammal died on Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Citing information from local authorities, Lim reported that the whale, which measured 50 feet long, bore four wounds near the abdomen, probably caused by spears.

Lim said the whale was possibly stranded due to disorientation.

According to studies, marine mammals often lose their acoustic sensors to loud noise, often from the effect of dynamite fishing, a destructive and prohibited method of catching fish that uses explosives, leading them to swim straight toward shallow waters and become stranded.

Vulnerable

Lim said the local government earlier sought assistance from marine experts and the Philippine Coast Guard on how to safely bring the whale back to the open sea.

“The whale remains near the mangrove area even if the fishermen were safely pushing the sea mammal back to the deeper part of the water,” Lim said in a phone interview.

Panukulan and two other municipalities—Polillo and Burdeos—are located on Polillo Island off Lamon Bay, facing the Pacific Ocean in the northern part of the province.

Sperm whales are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being “vulnerable” to extinction.

READ: Whale shark caught in fishing net freed in Quezon

In 2015, a sperm whale that was stranded near the shoreline in Calauag town was found dead.

According to authorities back then, the whale succumbed to hunger caused by overfishing and illegal fishing activities in the area.