Whale in Maliangin Island

 
On 17th May 2012, Donny Musana who is a resident of Maliangin Island and an Honorary Wildlife Warden (HWW) called WWF-Malaysia Kudat Marine Biologist at around 4 pm saying that, he saw a whale swimming in the shallow water in front of his house in Maliangin Island. The whale was reported to be injured on its head. While waiting for the Marine Biologist to arrive at Maliangin Island, Donny was advised to keep an eye on the whale while waiting for the WWF-Malaysia team members arrival early the next morning. Banggi Youth Club (BYC) members were immediately contacted to help Donny keeping an eye on the suspected injured whale. Four BYC members volunteered to stay overnight on Maliangin Island, located about 20 minutes boat ride from Karakit Township on Banggi Island.
                                                                                                    
Donny went to Karakit to pick up the youths at around 7.00 pm. However, by the time they arrived there, it was already dark and the whale was no where to be seen. The Marine Biologist kept regular contact with the youths and Donnie for updates. The youths and Donnie took turn going to the beach just in case the whale showed up again. However, the whale was never to be seen again after Donny’s encounter.

The WWF-Malaysia team arrived at Maliangin Island at around 8.30 am and by that time the BYC members and Donny were already up and still looking for any sign of the whale. According to Donny, the size of the whale ranges from 3 to 4 meters long and black in color. He also managed to get a 4 minutes video footage of the marine mammal. After watching the video, looking at the still photographs, and looking through the marine mammal identification book, all agreed that the marine mammal look very similar to the Short-Finned Pilot Whale based on the shape of the body, fin and color.

Furthermore, when observed closely the whale was not critically injured, it just has scratches on its head. So, it might just  rested in Maliangin Island for 3-4 hours before swimming away continuing its journey along it’s migratory path.

Below are snapshots from video footage taken by Donny Musanna on 17th May 2012.





 

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