BATU PAHAT: The Johor Fisheries Department is looking at poisoning or environmental elements as possible causes which led to the death of a whale found in the waters off Sungai Sarang Buaya here on Tuesday,
Department director Munir Mohd Nawi said it is also possible that the whale had become sick after it consumed trash such as plastic bottles, which led it to swim to the shore.
“It might have fallen sick because of poison or because of the effects of environmental elements. We might have to wait for the cause of death because the histopathology tests on the tissue of the carcass will take a few weeks to complete,” said Munir.
He was speaking to the media after inspecting the whale carcass at the Fisheries Department jetty in Minyak Beku here.
The post mortem was conducted by officers from the Fisheries Research Institute and the Veterinary Services Department.
On Monday, a four-tonne whale was found stranded in shallow waters off Pontian. The unusual discovery sparked a buzz on social media, with locals sharing images and videos of efforts to rescue the stranded mammal.
Local fishermen, aided by the Fire and Rescue Department, spent more than three hours to steer the whale towards open water.
However, the whale was found dead a day later at the river mouth of Sungai Sarang Buaya around 4.45pm.