The 2 Ton Whale Shark That Was Stranded On Tulungagung Beach Finally Died

PHOTO VIA ANTARA / The whale shark that was stranded on Bayeman Beach, Tulungagung, East Java, was caught in a fishing trawl net and finally died.

TULUNGAGUNG - The whale shark (Rhincodon typus), which was stranded on Bayeman Beach, Tulungagung, East Java, was caught in a fishing trawl net and eventually died out of oxygen.

"The efforts of fishermen and officers to push the large fish measuring 7.4 meters long and 2 meters in circumference failed because the fish's body weight is estimated to be more than two tons", said the fisherman who was an eye witness to the whale shark stranding incident, Sukarji was quoted as saying by Antara, Friday, April 23.

The body of the whale shark that has been trapped in a puddle of beach sand does not move at all even though the number of volunteers trying to help push it out to sea is increasing.

The evacuation efforts were stopped at around 23.00 WIB, Thursday, April 22. The young whale, which is estimated to be 2-3 years old, died as the original tide receded.

"This whale shark is a type of fish that breathes with gills. So this fish must be in the water to keep its gills submerged", said Imam Abdullah, Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service Port of East Java.

The existence of a whale shark that was stranded and died was a spectacle for residents who were curious to see. The evacuation was carried out on Friday afternoon after a team from the Denpasar Coastal and Marine Resources Management Agency for the East Java Working Area arrived to carry out identification.

According to fishermen, the whale shark stranded on the coast of Tulungagung had occurred several times since the 1990s.