LANGKAWI: The excitement of several divers at the Pulau Payar Marine Park near here shot up several notches when they gleaned an invaluable education upon spotting whales from the Bryde’s species last week.
According to the owner of Iskandari Dive Centre Mazlan Rahmat, the fascinating encounter took place when he took five people for scuba diving activities at several locations near the island.
‘’On Saturday, (March 9), I accompanied several clients from Alor Setar to the park. On the way to the second location for the next activity, I did tell them that we may spot Bryde’s whales.
‘’We were indeed lucky as we saw four or five of the mammals, which were relatively of large sizes, at the location,’’ he said, adding that the whales were seen from 12 noon to 1 pm.
Mazlan said that he had seen whales, which he believed were of the Bryde’s species, several times since he started scuba diving activities at the park since 2013.
Mazlan, a scuba diving instructor, said that, this year alone, he had seen the whales five times at the park but considered the last sighting as the most interesting one.
‘’Based on my past experiences, the whales would dive deeper if they see activities close by, but last week, the whales, which are relatively large, appeared to be so friendly. In fact, the other divers were so enraptured and excited by the encounter because it was their first experience to see whales,’’ he said.
Mazlan, a diver for the past 20 years, and had dived in several locations in the country such as at Pulau Tioman, Pahang and Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu said he only saw Bryde’s whales at the park.
“In truth, I was very excited because I did not see them when diving at the two islands and in Sabah, but here I am lucky as I could see them up close.
“This may be a value-added situation to attract visitors to the park as my aspiration and that of the co-owner of Iskandari Dive Centre, Datuk Ahmad Zabidi Md Zain is to continue popularising this destination,” said Mazlan who took divers to the park every week. –Bernama
