Dead Whale in Guangdong Was Pregnant, Researchers Find

By Bailey Hu, March 17, 2017

If like countless concerned citizens in the PRD, you've been following the story of a sperm whale that got caught in a fishing net off the coast of Shenzhen, from unsuccessful attempts to lead it back to deeper waters to its death with a "mouth full of garbage," you'll be heartbroken yet again at the latest discovery: the whale was pregnant when she died.

While dissecting the body yesterday, researchers at the Huizhou Marine and Fishery Science and Technology Research Center discovered that the whale was carrying. They took the unborn baby out from its placenta but were unable to save it.

The autopsy started in the morning. At around 12pm, one expert told a Southern Metropolis Daily reporter that the whale could be pregnant. As the work went on, the conjecture was confirmed.

As late as 2pm, Tong Shenhan, director of the Xiamen Land and Water Bioresearch Insitute, was quoted as being hopeful: "We can't rule out the possibility of the baby's survival!"

But by 3.40pm, Tong said that there was no way the fetus could have made it. At 4pm, the lifeless body of the baby was retrieved from the mother whale. It measured two meters in length and weighed 110.5 kilograms.

The fetus was well-developed; experts said that if the mother hadn't died prematurely, the baby might have been born in a few days.

More work remains to be done before the cause of the mother whale's death can be confirmed. According to Tong, "We [the researchers] will make the cause of death public within a month." He added that the net that initially caught the sperm whale probably wasn't a major factor in its death, as the whale's skin was largely intact afterwards.

The sperm whale was first discovered tangled up in a fishing net in Dapeng Sea last weekend. Although it was freed within a few hours, it lingered in shallow waters, leading scientists to conjecture that something was wrong with its sonar. Despite extended rescue attempts, the whale eventually died in Daya Bay, near Huizhou, with a "severely injured" tail and a mouth "full of garbage."

Yesterday, deputy director of the Huizhou Administration of Ocean and Fisheries Wu Gang announced that the whale's body will remain in Huizhou after the autopsy finishes. Officials have already begun making plans for a science exhibition hall on sperm whales in Huidong County that's meant to promote awareness for the protection of marine life.