Jessica Soho mistaken for a whale?!

Posted in akalain mo?!, emails, local by admin on August 8th, 2009

While going through my mails, I unexpectedly saw this message subject: Scuba-diving Jessica Soho mistaken for beached whale. “This cannot be true!” I thought as I clicked on the view message:

Award-winning broadcaster Jessica Soho caused a commotion in the waters off Pilar town in Bataan when the townspeople mistook her for a beached whale, according to reports reaching Good Times Manila.

Soho was reportedly taping a special summer episode of her show “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho,” in which she was supposed to showcase rare corals and marine life in the area when the incident occurred Friday afternoon.

Garbed in scuba-diving gear, Soho was cast adrift a few hundred meters from their boat and was floating near the shore when some fishermen spotted her, locals said.

The fishermen quickly alerted the town’s environment office about what they thought was a beached whale, possibly a humpback, one of the biggest whale species frequently spotted in Philippine waters.

“Last February, there were some dolphins and whales that were beached in the same area, so when we saw her (Soho), we immediately assumed the worst,” one of the fishermen told GTM.

Dozens of environmentalists, local media, tourists and residents rushed to the area to take a look at the “beached whale” in hopes of guiding it back into deeper water.

But when they got near, they were shocked to see Soho, who had no idea what the hullabaloo was all about.

“It was an honest mistake and we have apologized to Ma’am Jessica. We did not mean to disturb her work at all,” Raul De Jesus, the local environment office chief, said.

In a statement issued to GTM, Soho said she has accepted the apology, saying it was “understandable,” and that the commotion did not impede their taping of her show.

“There was no harm done, and no offense was intended or taken. This experience has not made me lose my love of scuba-diving and I will continue to enjoy the wonders of nature underwater,” she said.

But to make sure that the mistake would not be repeated, Soho said she would ask for a custom-made scuba diving suit with vertical white stripes for a slimming effect.

I guess it was an honest mistake. I like the way Jessica handled the commotion – very professional.