Rare sea creatures — weighing 15 tons — spotted off Thailand. See the giants
Off the eastern coast of Thailand, a group of researchers had their eyes on the horizon.
They were on the search for a puff of water or a protruding dorsal fin that would indicate a marine mammal nearby.
Then, they saw two creatures they didn’t expect.
The researchers were led by Morakot Jowranta, head of the Marine National Park Study and Research Center in Chumphon, according to an April 7 Facebook post from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
They were working on a monitoring and assessment project on dolphins and rare marine mammals when they saw two short dorsal fins, according to the post.
The fins belonged to Bryde’s whales, a species that is rarely seen in Thailand waters, according to the post.
A video of the whales was shared in the comment section of the Facebook post.
Morakot said the sighting was rare and incredibly exciting, and it speaks to the diverse marine ecosystem in the Mu Ko Chumphon National Park, where the survey was taking place.
About 100 of the whales have been spotted in the Gulf of Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post.
Bryde’s whales are considered medium size, reaching lengths between 42 and 49 feet, according to the Facebook post.
They can also weigh between 15 and 20 tons, or 30,000 to 40,000 pounds, researchers said.
They have a characteristically small dorsal fin and 40 to 50 grooves in their throat that expand when feeding, researchers said.
Bryde’s whales belong to the same family as blue whales and humpback whales, known as “great whales” or rorquals, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They use baleen, a type of brush-like structure, to filter anywhere from 1,320 to 1,450 pounds of food per day into their mouth, using methods like skimming the surface, lunging out of the water or creating bubble nets to trap their prey, according to the NOAA.
Two Bryde’s whales — pronounced “broodus” after 20th-century Norwegian whaler Johan Bryde — were seen feeding further north along the coast of Thailand a month earlier, McClatchy News reported.
The whales were seen off Bang Saphan, roughly 220 miles south of Bangkok, on March 6, according to wildlife officials.
They were first spotted by fishermen, who reported the sighting to national park officials, McClatchy News reported.
The researchers did not say whether they believed the whales spotted off Chumphon to be the same whales or a different pair.
“Bryde’s whales are usually seen alone or in pairs. Nonetheless, there have been reports of up to 20 whales loosely grouped together in feeding areas,” according to NOAA. “Research suggests that Bryde’s whales spend most of the day within 50 feet of the water’s surface.”
Mu Ko Chumphon National Park is in southern Thailand, about a 300-mile drive south of Bangkok.
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, was used to translate the Facebook post from the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Rare sea creatures — weighing 15 tons — spotted off Thailand. See the giants."
