By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Northern Negros Occidental station rescued a whale shark or “butanding” after it was trapped in a fish pen in Bacolod City’s Barangay Banago yesterday.

Commander Joe Luviz Mercurio, PCG station chief, said they were unable to confirm the size of the shark.

The trapped whale shark was freed from the fish pen three hours later.

This was the second incident when a whale shark was also spotted and got trapped inside a fish pen in Bacolod City.

In September of last year, a “butanding” was trapped inside a fish pen in the same area and managed to free itself.

Known to be the largest fish species in the world, whale sharks can grow up to 40 feet or 12 meters long and can weigh as much as 18.7 metric tons.

Whale sharks are currently classified as endangered under the International Union of Conservation of Nature, and are currently listed as protected under the Philippine Fisheries Code./DGB, WDJ