By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A dead whale shark or more locally known as “butanding” was found over the weekend in a fish pen at the town of Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.

Based on information released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Negros Occidental, their sub-station in the town received a phone call at around 7:10 p.m. on Saturday, September 25, informing them that a dead whale shark was towed to the shoreline of the town’s Barangay Zone 1A.

Upon verification by the PCG, the butanding was discovered dead by a local fisherman inside a fish pen about one kilometer from the shoreline.

The dead butanding was estimated to weigh about two tons with a length of 7.37 meters and a width of 1.42 meters.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region VI and the municipal agriculturist of Pulupandan are currently trying to determine the butanding’s cause of death.

The PCG-Negros Occidental station, meanwhile, said they believe the dead butanding is different from the other whale shark spotted in a fish pen in Barangay Banago, Bacolod City last week, pointing out the one in Pulupandan is far smaller compared to the one in discovered in Bacolod City./DGB, WDJ