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Rare accident with a gentle giant, 2 fishermen rescued off Romblon waters

Philippines | National

Rare accident with a gentle giant, 2 fishermen rescued off Romblon waters

By Aaron Recuenco

PCG personnel attend to the fishing boat which capsized after it was accidentaly hit by a whale shark off the waters of Romblon. (photo: PCG)

Whale sharks are a common sight and even an exciting experience for some Filipino fishermen but when their big size would cause their boat to capsize in the middle of the night, well, that’s the scary part.

This was the story shared by two fishermen to the personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) after they were rescued when a whale shark accidentally caused their boat to overturn off the waters of Cajidiocan in Romblon at midnight on Thursday, Feb. 1

PCG personnel rushed to the area to conduct search and rescue after receiving a distress call involving 61-year old Edgardo Lozano and 51-year old Harry Lozano.

They said they were fishing off the waters of Barangay Cantagda when a whale shark passed by and accidentally hit their boat, which resulted in their boat capsizing in the middle of the night.

Whale sharks are considered as one of the biggest creatures in the ocean.

In its website, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said whale sharks "feed on plankton and travel large distances to find enough food to sustain their huge size, and to reproduce."

“Whale sharks are found in all the tropical oceans of the world. Their white spotted coloration makes these gentle giants easy to distinguish, and popular with snorkelers and divers at sites where they aggregate off the coast,” it said.

In the Philippines, some local government units have been benefiting from them on the aspect of tourism as they are sometimes found in some diving and snorkeling areas in the Philippines.

Related Tags

Romblon PCG Whale shark

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