Ancient whale skeleton resurfaces near Bangkok after 3,000 years
The skeleton of a whale discovered almost perfectly preserved more than 3,000 years after it last swam in the Gulf of Thailand was officially registered on Wednesday.
The 3,380-year-old Bryde's whale fossil was unearthed in Samut Sakhon's Ban Phaeo district just west of Bangkok and 12 kilometres from the current coastline, in November 2020.
Sea levels in the gulf have fallen several metres over the past few thousand years.
The 12-metre fossilised skeleton has been carefully conserved, dated and moved to the Golden Jubilee National Geological Museum in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, said the Royal Gazette on Wednesday. The fossil has also been listed by the Department of Mineral Resources, it added.
Archaeologists dug up a total of 141 bones of the ancient Bryde’s whale, including the skull that measured 3 metres long. The rare discovery was hailed as "a window into the past", especially for research on sea levels and biodiversity.
The fossilised remains of the giant sea mammal were uncovered during work conducted by water management consultant Bright Blue Water Corporation.
Bryde’s whales are still occasionally spotted in the Gulf of Thailand today, though the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species lists their conservation status as “unfavourable”, adding that it “would benefit significantly from international cooperation organised by tailored agreements”.
Related stories:
