Dead whale same as the one rescued in Pontian

BATU PAHAT: The dead whale that was found beached at the Sungai Sarang Buaya river mouth is the same one found and rescued in Pontian two days ago.

Johor Fisheries Department director Munir Mohd Nawi said the mammal is from the highly endangered Balaenoptera borealis species.

Widely known as sei whale, it is the third largest of its kind in the whale family.

He said a forensics team from the Turtles and Marine Ecosystem Centre was examining the carcass.

"This is the same whale that was found and rescued in Pontian waters a couple of days ago.

"The carcass is being towed to the department's jetty here for a post-mortem and to find out the cause of death," he said.

It was recently reported that a whale was rescued by a group of people in Pantai Rambah on Monday.

However the mammal was found beached again in shallow waters along Sungai Sarang Buaya on Tuesday.