LANGKAWI: Five local fishermen endured terrifying moments when their boat capsized after being hit by a shoal of whale sharks near Pulau Balar waters here yesterday evening.
Kedah and Perlis Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director First Admiral Maritime Romli Mustafa said the agency received a distress call from another fishing boat who heard the emergency call from the capsized boat at 7pm.
"MMEA immediately deployed a Bot Kilat 6 rescue boat to the location. Upon arrival, all the fishing crew members aged between 23 and 58 have been pulled to safety by another fishing trawler who happened to be in the vicinity.
"The fishing crew, who escaped unhurt said their boat was torn in two after being struck by a shoal of whale sharks," he said in a statement today.
Whale sharks are slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet sharks and the largest known extant fish species that occasionally is found in the waters ofe Andaman Sea.
Its average size is between five metres to 10 metres with the largest confirmed individual having a length of 18.8 metres but they pose no harm to humans.
The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living non-mammalian animal.
