The DMCR reported they were informed of the dead whale shark by a Mr Ekkathat Naweewong early yesterday afternoon (Jan 3).
The whale shark carcass was found floating one to two kilometres from Koh Hei (Coral Island), southeast of Phuket, toward the direction of the Racha islands, south of Phuket, Mr Ekkathat reported.
However, by the time DMCR officials were able to reach the scene, they were unable to locate the whale shark remains.
The search continues today.
“We hope to recover the remains try to determine what caused its death,” the DMCR explained in a post today.
Mr Ekkathat reported that when the tour boat found the whale shark, its entire tail had been severed from where the whale sharks’ anal fin should be, but they could not find any other injuries on the animal.
He also reported that from initial inspections of the carcass, the whale shark was a female and measured some eight metres long.