Tourists near Koh He in Phuket witnessed a rare event as they spotted a white, possibly albino, Omura’s whale. (Image: Happy Hours Phuket Charter Team/X)
Rare white Omura’s whale sighting off Phuket sparked excitement amongst marine biologists as they highlighted that the sighting underscores the rich diversity of our marine ecosystems.
Few people aboard a boat near Koh He in Phuket were not aware that they were probably among the first to sight a rarely seen whale. Marine biologists later confirmed that people aboard the boat Happy Ours spotted a white Omura’s whale off Thailand’s Phuket coast.
Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and lecturer at the Kasetsart University, told the Bangkok Post that this was possibly the first sighting of the rare mammal in Thailand and said it could have been also the first time in the world that a white Omura whale was spotted.
He took to Facebook to say that based on the detailed information of the marine animal sighted on New Year’s Day afternoon off the coast of the southern Koh He it seemed it was an Omura’s whale. Earlier, observers felt it was a Bruda whale.
The Bangkok Post report, citing Professor Thon, pointed out that Omura whales and Bruda whales can be difficult to differentiate but there is one notable difference. The Omura’s whale has a single defined ridge on the front of its head whereas the Bruda whale has three.
A person aboard the Happy Ours boat, 9 kms south of the Koh He coast, spotted two Omura’s whales at about 4pm. The whale was spotted with another Omura’s whale about 4pm by a person travelling on a boat called Happy Ours, about 9km south of Koh He.
Professor Thon said that these Omura’s whales are a rare species primarily found in the seas in Southeast Asia and the waters south of Japan. The mammals have been sighted both in the Andaman Sea and in the Gulf of Thailand, but they are more commonly sighted in the Andaman Sea. The marine expert described a white Omura’s whale as “doubly rare”, adding that the probability of sighting one is about one in 10 million or more.
A group of tourists, in a separate incident, spotted a 7-metre white whale near Phi Phi island, Yutthapong Damsrisuk, chief of Nopparat Thara-Phi island park, said last week. The authorities are trying to verify the species.
Authorities have urged tour boats and vessels to take extra precautions when navigating in areas where Omura’s whales are present. They highlighted that the sighting of these rare species demonstrates the diversity of marine life in the Andaman Sea.
