University's Findings Show Main Cause Of Whale Stranding Was Unknown Illness

KOTA KINABALU (Sabah, Malaysia), Aug 7 (Bernama) -- An unknown illness might have caused a whale to be stranded in Kuala Penyu last week before it died, according to findings of the Sabah University of Malaysia's (UMS) Borneo Marine Research Institute. Its director, Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa, said a quick external examination of the whale showed it was emaciated and recovering from a few wounds and sunlight-induced blisters on the body. "In the light of these observations and the fact that the whale was unable to swim despite efforts to pull it to deeper waters during rescue efforts, we believe the main cause of the stranding could be an unknown illness," he told a press conference in the university's main campus in Likas near here Tuesday. However, he did not rule out extreme weakness and old age as other factors, as well. Saleem said stranding of whales was not new to east Malaysia state of Sabah since it had been reported several times in the past since 1970. Last Thursday, a whale measuring 15.80m in length and weighing more than 10 tonnes was found stranded for eight hours before succumbing to an illness on a sandy beach at the mouth of the Setompok river near Kuala Penyu. Saleem noted that in many cases, efforts to rescue stranded whales had often been unsuccessful as many of the mammals died due to various causes. Sabah might be a choice for stranded whales due to its geographical location as it was surrounded by the South China Sea, Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea, he said. -- BERNAMA