Thresher shark found beached on Koh Phi Phi returned to sea

Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat, one of Thailand’s most renowned marine ecologists, said on his Facebook page that the appearance of a thresher shark at Phi Phi Island is unusual. These sharks typically inhabit the open waters of the deep sea.

There have been reports of thresher sharks in Thailand, but they are usually found offshore in the Andaman Sea. Occasionally, they drift into shallower waters for cleaner fish to remove parasites, but this typically happens at dawn or dusk, he said.

Thresher sharks,like blacktip sharks, are not accustomed to humans and are quite skittish.

He added that he had never seen one in such shallow waters.
Thresher sharks are considered rare for the general public in Thailand. Divers who wish to see them usually have to travel to remote deep-sea islands in foreign waters.

Distinctive features include an exceptionally long upper tail fin and large round eyes compared to their small heads. Their bodies are sleeker and longer than the sharks we are familiar with, he said in the post.

Adult thresher sharks can reach lengths of 5-6 metres, largely due to their long tails. When measuring their total length, they appear significantly longer relative to their body size/weight.

There could be several reasons why this shark ventured into such shallow waters. It might have been cleaning itself on the sand, or it could have been startled by the crowd and swam in circles, among other possibilities. However, it is unusual enough to warrant attention.

The sick thresher shark that beached itself was successfully rescued and released back into the sea by staff and villagers.
Thon added that the public can help with conservation by refraining from consuming shark fin soup. The oceans are already in poor condition, let’s not make things worse, he said.