News Forum - Injured whale shark swims up to boat for help in southern Thailand

[Thaiger]

National park officials in Krabi province, southern Thailand, are searching for an injured whale shark in need of urgent medical assistance. Yesterday, a six-metre long whale shark swam to the surface to visit a longtail boat near Koh Hong island located inside Than Bok Khorani National Park in Krabi’s Mueang district. As cold-blooded whale sharks …

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[Shade_Wilder]

"However, as the shark swam underneath the boat, the longtail boat driver noticed that a large piece of rope – which looked like trawling net – was tightly wrapped around the whale shark’s tail.

The rope cut deep into the shark’s flesh, leaving a deep wound, said the boat driver. After around 10 minutes, the injured whale shark swam away.

The longtail boat driver says he believes the whale shark swam up to the boat because it needs urgent help.

Today, national park officials searched for the injured whale shark around Hong Island and elsewhere in Phang Nga Bay to no avail." (from the article)

 

I think that it is entirely possible that the whale shark was actually asking for help, and I think it is incumbent for us humans to help it if we can.

Humans are the dominant species on the planet, and as the dominant, I think it obligates us to care for those that we harm; we compensate people for all sorts of reasons, why not animals as well? I would take it a step further; when we are able to fix an animal injustice caused by us, like in this case with the rope, it is a moral duty to do so. If we fail to make all reasonable effort, what does that say about us? Finally, I would argue that it is in our own self-interest to live in harmony with animals as we have barely scratched the surface of what we could learn from them. Studies have shown that animals often know when an earthquake will come; isn't that knowledge we could use?I had a pair of casts who went all wonky when a storm approached; they were better at weather forecasting that anything else I have seen. Anyone who has spent time with animals knows that they know more than we give them credit for; it behooves us all to care for them, pay attention to them, and assist them in a reasonable way.

I hope that the national park staff are successful on assisting that whale shark. If the reasons above don't move you, anyone seen the movie Star Trek 4, The Voyage Home?

Save the Whales!

 

[Karolyn]

Would a whale shark, not an animal with a complex society, expect altruism from others?