Piercing the water’s surface with its almond-shaped mouth, a giant Bryde’s whale opens wide for one, two, three seconds, gulping in anchovies as a boatload of awed tourists look on in the Gulf of Thailand. It’s a rare glimpse of marine life in its natural habitat, in a kingdom overrun with mass tourist attractions such as aquariums and dolphin shows. Once a dream for scuba divers, many of Thailand’s coral reefs have been dulled by pollution, over-fishing and increased boat traffic, as well as over-enthusiastic swimmers. But going out to spot Bryde’s whales is a relatively new concept. The 15-meter (50-foot) long mammals flock to the northern Gulf waters to feed on an abundance of anchovies during the September to December rainy season.

Whales in the wild: rare gem amid Thailand mass tourism. (2016, December 16-17). BusinessWorld, p. S3/6.