Stranded Whale shark becomes tourist attraction in Subic

A rare whale shark which was stranded in Subic Bay Freeport since Friday has been the subject of attention not only from local authorities but tourist as well.

A rare whale shark becomes a tourist attraction among students in Subic Bay after it was stranded in one of the piers in the said area. This is the first sighting of whale shark in the area this year. Photo by Anthony Bayarong

Ameth Koval, head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Ecology Department of SBMA said that they received the report last Thursday, they added that they estimate the whale shark at around 15 feet.

Koval added that they could not yet check the condition of whale shark because they could not dive since thier were a lot of boxed jelly fish which are very poisonous.

“We are still waiting for a report made by Ocean Adventure which is our partner when it comes to this kind of situation, It is very important that we know the health of the shark before we decide to help it get to safer waters,” Koval said.

“Initially we think that the shark is healthy because it can swim fast but we think that it is disoriented since it only swim in a pattern.”  Koval told SubicTimes.

This is the first sighting of whale shark in Subic this year particularly in the area of Boton Wharf.

A worker from Boton wharf said that “(We saw this shark here Friday, he just swims around the pier) nunf friday pa namin siya (whale shark) nakita rito, dyan lang siya paikot ikot, pabalik balik lang siya sa gilid ng pier”

He added that since the news broke out in Subic, local tourist has been swamping the area to look at the rare shark.

“(When the news spead, tourist flock the area, last Sunday their was a lot of tourist that came here to see the shark, the latest was students from BRENT International School) nung kumalat yung balita, may mga turista na na pumupunta rito nung Lingo yung pinaka marami kanina naman mga studyante ng BRENT,” the worker added.

SBMA is still waiting for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to help them move the whale shark in safe and deep water.