CHANTABUREE, 25 November 2010 (NNT)-Local residents of Koh-Perd , Chantaburi Province, found a whale stranded at Klong-long (คลองลง) beach.

Volunteers finally rescued it, dragging it back into deep water. Local residents who found the whale mistook it for a boat before noticing some movements. He immediately called for help from a group of volunteers and rescue units to take it back to the sea.

The whale, 6 meters in length and weighs more than 2 tons, was believed to have been hunting for small shell fish in an area where several shrimp farms are located when it was stranded in shallow water. According to locals, no whales of any species have ever been spotted in the province. They assumed that a large number of small fish and crustaceans in this area are what attracted the whale.

The Chantaburee provincial tourism department is now planning to include Klong-long beach as one of the province’s many eco-tourism hot spots.

NNT