Although a search for a white Omura's whale proved fruitless on Tuesday, a research team found four other Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai) near Koh Hae, off Phuket, instead.
Pinsak Surasawadi, the newly appointed chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said the department's animal expert team scoured the area where an albino Omura's whale was spotted on Jan 1 and seen for three days but has not found it yet.
The rare creature was seen for the first time in this country by a group of tourists who were heading to Koh Hae as it swam close to their boat. A clip of the encounter went viral, prompting Natural Resources and Environment Minister Phatcharavat Wongsuwan to ask the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to search for it.
He said the teams on Monday employed three search methods to try and locate the whale. They involved a boat search around the lower part of Phangnga Bay to Koh Racha in Phuket, a search using a drone around Koh Mai Thon in Phuket and interviewing tourists and fishermen in the hope that someone had spotted it.
One team found one Omura's whale west of Koh Phi Phi in Krabi around noon. The team spotted the whale surface to breathe three times before it swam away.
Another team found an Omura's whale, measuring about 9 metres long, east of Koh Mai Thon in Phuket. The team followed the whale for 30 minutes, noting that it surfaced six times in five minutes to breathe and appeared to be in good shape. The team also found four Omura's whales around Koh Hae. They collected environmental DNA (eDNA) and photos to ID the whales in order to help gauge their population.
"Unfortunately, we have not yet found the albino one. But at least, we can collect information about Omura's whales for future study," he said.
Omura's whales are on a list of protected animals under the Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act BE 2562 (2019) due to diminishing numbers.
Assoc Prof Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and lecturer at Kasetsart University, said on Tuesday that the discovery of four Okura's whales was good news because they were the largest pod ever spotted in Thailand.