Whale near southwest Johor coast pulled out to sea
Mohd Farhaan Shah
PONTIAN: The sighting of a 20-meter whale swimming along the coastal area of Pantai Rambah, southwest Johor in Malaysia here on Monday left many villagers and the public in awe of the mammal.
The sighting of the whale caused a frenzy among the public with many taking pictures with their mobile phones.
Within minutes, the news was widely spread on social networks. Within a few hours, a large group of people thronged the area to see the whale up close.
The whale was spotted at around 2pm by several beachgoers heading towards the coastal area of Pantai Rambah.
Local fisherman Ariss Karim, 54, said he spotted the whale swimming in deep waters near the beach since the wee hours of the morning after returning from his fishing trip at around 6am.
Ariss said he has been a fisherman all his life but he never thought he would be able to see the world’s largest mammal in Johor’s waters.
Pontian Rescue and Fire station special service operations chief Jumaat Sailan said the department together with state Civil Defence Department and local fishermen went to rescue the whale.
“The animal was swimming closer to the coastal area where the water is quite shallow and it may put its life in danger.
“We used a fishing boat and tied a rope around its tail before pulling the whale into deeper waters at around 3:30pm. The operation was a success as the animal managed to swim away into the open sea,” he said.