UPDATE (March 16, 2017 at 11am CST): On the afternoon of March 15, the injured sperm whale was pronounced dead and removed from the ocean. The deceased mammal was loaded on a flatbed truck and transported to Huizhou Marine and Fishery Science and Technology Research Center in Pingtan Town for research purposes. Click here to read more.
Despite the best efforts of rescuers, a 12-meter-long sperm whale has been left to die of its injuries after attempts to guide it into deeper water were unsuccessful.
The cetacean was found tangled in a fishing net by a group of fishermen near Daya Bay on Sunday, leading to a rescue operation by the Dapeng Fishery Administrative Department along with local fishermen and divers. (Admittedly, there does seem to be some disagreement about who found the whale, with some sources claiming it was fishermen while others credit divers and even fishery officials. We have chosen to attribute the find to fishermen, as most sources go this route.)
Once the whale was freed from the netting, a group of whale experts from Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Ocean University tried to lure the aquatic mammal into deeper water using sonar equipment.
Sadly, experts have deemed the whale to have a low chance of survival due to its “severely injured” tail.
Authorities decided against using poison to euthanize the three-ton leviathan, fearing a toxin may pollute the surrounding waters. Using explosives or a gun to put down the animal were also given the kibosh, due to the damage they would inflict on the whale’s body – possibly preventing further study.
According to the South China Morning Post, the sperm whale still displayed signs of life at noon Wednesday, although the report notes the animal had barely moved since Tuesday at midnight.
READ MORE: Baby Porpoise Found Dead on Guangdong Beach
[Images via SCMP]
0 User Comments