Overview of the rescue of a giant stranded whale in Nghe An
•May 25, 2016 14:10
(Baonghean.vn) - After 7 hours of rescue efforts, authorities and thousands of people in Dien Chau district successfully rescued a stranded whale and brought it to the open sea.
Clip: Lam Son
Clip: Mai Giang
Clip: T.Chung - T.Cuong
At around 5am on May 25, some fishermen in Dien Thinh commune (Dien Chau, Nghe An) on their way back from fishing discovered a whale washed ashore in hamlet 9.
The fish is about 13m long, weighs more than 10 tons, has shiny black skin, and many scratches on its body.
Immediately after the discovery, many people were present, trying to rescue the whale. Many curious people were also present to watch.
According to some experienced fishermen, this whale swam astray and drifted ashore with the tide. When the tide went out, it became stranded.
Due to the rapid ebb tide, the whale rescue was very difficult. Local authorities mobilized 3 excavators to scoop sand to create a channel, both to provide water for the whale and to create a water channel system to bring the whale back to the sea.
After creating deep grooves on both sides of the whale's body, hundreds of people rushed down, using all possible tools to splash water to cool the whale's body.
Three excavators worked urgently because the weather was quite hot, while more and more people came to watch, jostling and pushing, causing the sand and soil that had just been scooped up to collapse again.
At around 10:30 a.m., a large trench, about 1 meter deep, leading from where the whale lay to the sea surface had formed. At this point, the whale was very tired and no longer moved much. Hundreds of people joined forces to push the whale along the creek out to sea.
According to experienced fishermen, after a long time of being stranded, the whale's health has declined and its chances of survival when returning to the sea are not high.
By 11:30, three excavators had left the beach. At this time, hundreds of people joined forces using ropes and their own strength to push the whale into deeper water.
Border guards set up a fence to prevent curious people from making the rescue difficult.
At 12:15, after many tireless efforts, the whale weighing about 10 tons was returned to the sea.
The joy of Dien Chau people when fish return to the sea. In the minds of fishermen, whales are good friends, affectionately called "Mr. Whale".
According to observations, after more than 7 hours of being stranded, when pushed out to sea, the fish was no longer agile, swimming sluggishly. Nghe An Fisheries Surveillance Force and local people are closely monitoring the fish to rescue it if necessary.