Date: Mon, 24 Nov, 1997
Baby Whales Returned to Sea

BEIJING (Nov. 24) XINHUA - Five baby whales, who apparently became lost in the tide and mistakenly swam to the shore, have been returned to the sea with the help of an aquatic products department and fishermen in Taizhou, eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

The Beijing-based "China Oceanic News" reported that the whales were caught by local fishermen when they were stranded on the shore. Each of them weighed 40-50 kilograms with a sea-blue back and a circular spouting hole on the head.

The whales, about 1.2 meters long, reportedly made crying sounds. Experts believed that they were newborn whales.

The Taizhou aquatic products bureau brought the five whales into deep ditches on the shore, and kept them alive for several days. After the baby whales recovered sufficiently, they were returned to the sea. This was the first report ever of stranded whales in Taizhou.



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