Stranded sperm whale died Dozens of experts rescued the baby whale for many days in the womb

The massive sperm whale is currently the world's largest toothed predator. Yesterday, a special anatomical operation was performed here at the Huizhou Marine and Fisheries Science and Technology Research Center in Pingtan Town, Huiyang District. The 14.18-ton, 10.78-meter-long sperm whale that ran aground in Daya Bay was dissected and found a two-meter-long juvenile whale with a net weight of 221 kilograms. Relevant experts said that this situation is of great scientific significance.

At 9 o'clock on the 12th, a sperm whale was found in the waters of Daya Bay wrapped in fishing nets. After the fishing nets were cleared, the sperm whale swam into the sea near the oil depot wharf of Huizhou Port on the evening of the 13th and ran aground by the afternoon of the 14th. Although dozens of experts and scholars participated in the rescue on the spot, they still died. Xinhua News Agency

The little sperm whale also left with her mother

Yesterday morning, it was gloomy. The sprawling sperm whale lay quietly in a makeshift plastic shed filled with ice bricks. Previously, it had been trapped for four days and three nights in the shallow sea of the Huishen Sea in Daya Bay, which touched countless people's hearts, and the three cities of Huishen and Hong Kong joined hands to relay rescue, and finally could not return to the sky. After being injured, it lost its way and never returned to its home in the depths of the ocean.

At about 10 o'clock yesterday, with the cooperation of the giant crane, the belly of the sperm whale was cut open, the blood flowed, and no "whale explosion" occurred. The reporter saw that more than 20 staff wearing white coats were operating at the same time, and the skin, fat, muscle, blood, milk and various internal organs of the sperm whale were sorted and bagged in the same way, and then scientific research and testing would be carried out.

At 14:00, after a short break for lunch, the experts continued to dissect the sperm whales. After peeling away the layers of fat and removing the dark red bruises, a large white placenta in the shape of a grinding disc was revealed. "This is the first time in the world that a whale placenta has been found during the dissection of a sperm whale!" Tong Shenhan, director of the Biological Museum of Xiamen University and director of the Xiamen Institute of Land and Water Biology, said in an interview with reporters that the baby whale inside has been formed, and if the mother whale is not unexpected this time, the baby whale should be born in the next few days.

At 15:40, Tong Shenhan, who was preparing to "deliver" the baby whale, said that the placenta was 264 cm long, but it had been confirmed that the baby whale in the placenta could not survive. At 15:53, specialists use a special scalpel to make a small incision in the surface of the placenta. At 16 o'clock, the baby whale appeared, but unfortunately it was dead. The dead body of the baby whale was stripped from the placenta and weighed by measurement, with a net weight of 221 pounds, a length of 2 meters, and a bust circumference of 1.23 meters. The reporter noticed that next to the left eye socket of the baby whale, there was actually a drop of teardrop-like liquid the size of a bean. Although it has not yet had time to open its eyes to see the world, it has shed the "first tears" in this world.

Huizhou will build an exhibition hall for sperm whales

Wang Ding, a cetacean expert at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview that there are many cases of small cetaceans being threatened or causing death due to hunger, suffocation and other reasons after they have strayed into the net due to predation or other reasons. Large cetaceans, on the other hand, are relatively rare because they live in the open ocean.

Tong Shenhan introduced that the initial dissection takes 3 days, and it takes about half a month to complete it, of which the dissection of young whales will be more difficult. Next, the female whale epidermis, skeletal specimens and juvenile whale specimens will be made, which can be completed in about half a year. As for the cause of death of the mother whale, Professor Tong said that because it has not been fully dissected, it is impossible to make a conclusion, "We will disclose the cause of her death within one month." From the analysis of the current situation, the sperm whale epidermis is relatively complete, and its performance after stranding can also prove that it is in good health, and I myself initially believe that the net entanglement is not enough to cause death."

The mother whale was measured to be 10.78 metres long and weighed 14.18 tonnes. Experts said that during the rescue process, problems with the sonar system of the mother whale were found, but the dissection has not yet been completed, and the specific cause of death is unknown. Next, the physiological structure, molecular biology, ecology and pathology of sperm whales will be studied, and the causes of death will be analyzed to provide more scientifically valuable data and theories for the protection of this endangered population of sperm whales.

Wu Gang, deputy director of the Huizhou Municipal Bureau of Oceanography and Fisheries, said in an interview that after the sperm whale specimen was made, it would stay in Huizhou. The bureau has initially planned to set up a special sperm whale science exhibition hall in Huidong to publicize the knowledge of marine life protection to the public and enhance the public's awareness of marine protection. (According to "Southern Metropolis Daily" Huang Hailin Sun Yaqian)

Source: Beijing Evening News