Whaleshark at Phi Phi

Normally the whaleshark season is about February - April, though whalesharks are rare and nobody should go diving in Thailand and expect to see one. The best dive sites are Richelieu Rock or Hin Daeng, both open water rocky pinnacles out in the ocean and both great dive sites!

But sometimes you get lucky... A customer was diving at Phi Phi just a couple of weeks ago on a rather wet day, diving was OK, better than a day at the office, and then...





Oh yes, MUCH better than a day at the office!

• More about Whalesharks
• Richelieu Rock
• Hin Daeng and Hin Muang
• Phi Phi Dive Sites

Dolphins Rescued in Phuket

Three rough-toothed dolphins were rescued after they were found stranded on mud flats created by the receding tide at Ao Makham (Cape Panwa) on Saturday.

The rescue comes one week after the carcass of a female striped dolphin was discovered washed ashore at Baan Dan in Thalang and nine days after a pod of false killer whales beached at Koh Racha.

The dolphins, two females and one male, were found by fishermen who, together with local villagers, helped keep the dolphins’ heads and skin wet.

They also informed the nearby Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), whose marine biologists came to give basic treatment to the dolphins before taking them by boat back to the sea.

According to PMBC experts who rushed to the scene, the dolphins were more than 20 years old, weighed more than 100 kilograms and were more than two meters in length.

However, they were puzzled as to why the dolphins were found in the mangrove as they were in good health and this species of dolphin is rare in Phuket waters.

One theory put forward was that they were fleeing a disturbance, possibly something man-made.

False Killer Whales Beach at Racha Yai Island

KOH RACHA YAI: Researchers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) are today examining the remains of a False Killer Whale that was one of some 20 that beached on Koh Racha Yai, some 25 kilometers south of Phuket, late yesterday afternoon.

Local hotel staff and tourists rescued another 10 beached animals that could not make their way back to deeper water on their own.

False Killer Whales are large “open-ocean dolphins” known to attack and kill other cetaceans with their distinctive array of 44 teeth.

PMBC biologist Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong told the Gazette that about 40 dolphins were spotted about 5 pm in the shallow waters off Ao Paktok, where 11 of them later beached.



“Almost all the whales that came ashore were three to four meters long. The longest was 4.2m,” K. Kongkiat said.

As most of the whales appeared healthy, it was very unlikely that the mass beaching was the result of illness, he added.

“They are social animals that live in large groups and all members obediently follow their leader, so if the leader beaches the others follow,” he said.

The animal that died was a 2.8m female, probably about 10 years old, he added.

“The animal went into shock and we couldn’t save her. There were no visible signs of illness. We will do an autopsy this afternoon,” he said earlier today.

K. Kongkiat said the leader may have become confused trying to negotiate a narrow channel and found itself unable to return to deeper water due to big waves and strong onshore currents.

The 10 stranded dolphins were taken by truck to the relatively calm waters of Ao Teua on the other side of the island, where they were given injections to prevent infection and released around midnight.

“After their release they seemed to gain strength. That was the last time we saw them, though we continued to patrol the shoreline by boat,” K. Kongkiat said.