1 month ago
309
SINGAPORE – The carcass of a whale found in the waters off Tanjong Pagar on Sept 6 has been identified as an
Omura’s whale, or Balaenoptera omurai,
which is among the world’s most elusive baleen whale species.
Its biology, population, habitat and ecology “are largely unknown or poorly known”
,
Dr Marcus Chua, assistant senior curator of mammalia at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM)
at the science faculty of the National University of Singapore, told The Straits Times on
June 6
.
He noted that the Omura’s whale was described as a new species to science only in 2003, and scientists know so little about it that in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classification of species extinction threat, it is listed as “data deficient”.
There is no information about how many of these whales exist in the wild,
and little is known about their migration patterns
. They are found primarily in warm and
shallow coastal waters, across the Indo-west Pacific, including South-east Asian waters, the Indian Ocean, the north-west Pacific Ocean and Oceania,
said the museum.
The recovered whale, identified as a
sub-adult male
, was likely in its
late teens
, said Dr Chua, adding that an Omura’s whale reaches adulthood at
about 20 years.
There is no information about their lifespan.
When it was recovered in Singapore in 2025
, the whale was missing half its body and measured about
6.3m
. At full length, a
10.6m long baleen whale would weigh about 5,000kg to 7,000kg
when alive, said Dr Chua.
Found in an advanced stage of decomposition, the whale likely died between several days and 2 weeks prior to discovery, he said.
The Sept 6 incident is the first record of an Omura’s whale washing up in local waters.
English (US)