BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A whale shark (butanding) found in Barangay Banago was believed to have been hunting for food.
The butanding, approximately five meters long, was found by local fishermen on Saturday, said Ensign Kimberly Albia, deputy commander of the Coast Guard Station (CGS) in Negros Occidental.
The fish pen was owned by the brother of former CGS-Negros Occidental station chief commander Jansen Benjamin, currently the chief of staff of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) District in Western Visayas.
According to Albia, Benjamin and a team of divers went to the fish pen on Tuesday to check but the butanding was no longer there; they believed it went out on its own.
The whale shark stayed in the pen for two days.
Maybe it was hunting for planktons and small shrimps inside the fish pen, according to the team.
Albia said the divers were supposed to install a tagging device to the whale shark for easy tracking and identification.
CGS believed the whale shark in Banago was part of the three others spotted off the coast of Antique last month.
The whale shark was a proof of Bacolod’s healthy marine environment, said Albia.
She urged the public to contact PCG or the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources should they spot other whale sharks.
Albia also reminded the public to avoid approaching the butanding as it could easily get stressed./PN
