KOTA KINABALU: The state government welcomes the initiative of any institution to study why whales have been beaching at the western shores of Sabah.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said there had been a proposal to do research on such an incident but nobody seemed to be able to respond to it appropriately.
“At least now we can be assured that there will be a body who can respond if such an incident happens again on our shores.
“I see this as a scientific endeavor but if they feel that our assistance is needed, especially from the museum, we will be more than happy to assist,” he told reporters at a fast breaking event hosted by his ministry on Wednesday.
Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) recently announced the setting up of a task force and the development of a standard operating manual to handle future stranding cases.
Dr John Madin, lecturer at BMRI, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), said Sabah recorded the highest number of whale stranding cases as well as whale sightings compared to other states since the 1970s.
The reason Sabah ranked the highest in whale stranding cases in the country is not scientifically known.
Meanwhile, BMRI director Professor Dr Saleem Mustafa said there were places with higher stranding cases than in Sabah.
On the whale stranding case in Kuala Penyu recently, Saleem said it was unlikely that sonar was a factor in driving the whale to shallow waters as there was no active sonar widely used by the Malaysian Navy here.