(Baonghean.vn) - Since the beginning of the year, Nghe An has recorded 7 cases of whales washing ashore. The fact that so many whales have washed ashore in such a short period of time is quite strange, because in fishermen's beliefs, whales have an extremely sacred meaning.
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| At 1:30 p.m. on January 18, 2016, while walking on the beach, tourists discovered a blue-black whale, about 80 cm long and weighing 14 kg, drifting at sea. Afterwards, tourists carried the whale ashore, and together with fishermen and local authorities set up an altar, collected and buried the whale. |
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| On the morning of March 16, fishermen in Xuan Loc hamlet, Nghi Xuan commune (Nghi Loc district) discovered a whale carcass drifting ashore in a state of decomposition. The whale was about 1.5m long, weighed more than 50kg, and had signs of many injuries on its body.Fishermen in Xuan Loc hamlet quickly brought the whale's body to Chinh Vi temple (the hamlet's sacred temple) about 100m away to perform a burial ceremony according to the customs of the coastal area. |
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| On March 20, fishermen in Xuan Duong hamlet, Nghi Xuan commune (Nghi Loc) also discovered a whale carcass drifting near the offshore border between Nghe An and Ha Tinh. They salvaged it and brought it back for burial. |
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| On March 21, some people cutting grass near the beach of Dien Thinh commune discovered a whale (fishermen respectfully call it "Mr. Whale") washed ashore. The whale was nearly 2m long, shiny black, weighed about 100kg, stranded on the beach and showed signs of exhaustion. Immediately after that, the people reported it to the local authorities and functional agencies. Upon receiving the news, the People's Committee of the commune and fishermen repeatedly brought the whale to deep water to return to the sea, but the whale died due to injuries and exhaustion. On the afternoon of March 24, fishermen brought the "Mr. Whale" to the cultural house of hamlet 9B, Dien Thinh commune to hold a burial ceremony according to fishermen's customs. |
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| 18 days later (April 8), on the way out to sea to catch seafood, the boat of Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoa's family (Tan Nho Block, Nghi Hai Ward, Cua Lo Town) discovered a whale carcass drifting near Cua Hoi sea channel. The fish was nearly 2m long and weighed about 80kg. |
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| On April 11, while playing on Cua Lo beach, some tourists discovered the body of a whale washed up on Cua Lo beach, behind Binh Minh square (Nghi Huong ward, Cua Lo town). This whale was small in size, nearly 1 meter long, weighing about 40 kg. |
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| On the night of May 24 and morning of May 25, a 15-meter-long, 10-ton whale washed ashore in Dien Thinh Commune, Dien Chau District. The area where the whale washed ashore was at the water's edge of the beach in Hamlet 9B, Dien Thinh Commune. When it washed ashore, the whale was still alive, wagging its tail and blowing water very strongly through its nostrils. The whale was about 15 meters long, about 2 meters tall and about 1 meter thick, estimated to weigh over 10 tons. |
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