After Orcas, Tigers And Sun Bears, Short-Finned Pilot Whales Also Spotted In Terengganu

In a span of two weeks, the state has seen their fair share of rare animal sighthings: a pair of Orca whales near Kerteh, a pair of tigers strolling around Kampung Besul and more recently, three sun bears roaming around Felda Belara.

Just when we thought that we won't see anymore rare animal sightings, well, let's just say we were made to put our foot in our mouth.

A pod of short-finned pilot whales were seen swimming in waters off Terengganu for the first time ever over the weekend.

According to a report by Sinar Harian, the whales were spotted by several fishermen near Pulau Perhentian in Besut.

They even managed to record a 40-second video, which you can check out below:

Mohd Tarmimi Ali, the head of the Marine Mammals Division at the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) in Rantau Abang, told the Malay daily that short-finned pilot whales have never been spotted in Terengganu before.

The last time these whales were spotted in the wild was in 2013 in Sarawak.

“This short-finned pilot whales have never crossed the waters of this state, based on the available records in FRI Rantau Abang, that is under the Fisheries Department,” he was quoted as saying.

Mohd Tarmimi added that after reviewing the video clip, the department concluded that the whales were very large in size and belong to a big group.

According to Mohd Tarmimi, short-finned pilot whales have become endangered and nearly extinct in certain parts of the world.

In Malaysia, it has been listed as an endangered marine species and is protected by the Department of Fisheries under Section 27 of the Fisheries Act 1985 on Aquatic Mammals or Turtles in Malaysian Fisheries Waters.

It is also protected under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as one of the world’s endangered marine species.