Weather thwarts whale's retrievers
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Shanghai rescue crews failed to retrieve the remains of a stranded whale yesterday due to miserable weather.
The rescue team, consisting of fishery authorities and experts from Shanghai Ocean University, planned to launch another effort as soon as the wind dies down.
"Gales precluded the salvage ships from getting close to the whale," said Hu Chongyi, a member on the rescue team.
The whale, about 10 meters in length and 10 tons in weight, was found stranded on the east coast of Shanghai's Hengsha Island on Thursday afternoon. It died the next morning despite rescue efforts.
Workers are now trying to get it out of water before sending it to Shanghai Ocean University for display.
The stranded animal is identified as a Bryde's whale, which is on the state's second-class protected animal list.
"The whale probably entered the mouth of the Yangtze River by mistake," said Tang Wenxi, of the university.
Experts guessed that it might have been sick and lost normal function, because its appearance is almost intact.
The construction of dams and alternations in the environment may all disturb a whale's function, experts added.
The Shanghai Fishery Bureau received reports of the stranded whale about 5pm on Thursday. It was hung up on a shoal near a dike, still alive.
Rescue workers were immediately sent to the site to help it get back to the sea, but failed. The whale died on Friday morning from dehydration.
Fishing experts of Shanghai Ocean University reached the island yesterday to join the rescue team.
The rescuer team tied cables to the whale on Saturday and planned to hoist it to ships through the force of rising tides.
But the gale speed was up to 74 kilometers per hour in the river and rescuers couldn't get close to the whale.
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