Body Length 7 Meters...
Appears to Have Separated from Its Group
Ulsan Coast Guard and Others Attempt to Guide It Back to the Open Sea
A baby sperm whale was discovered at Daebyeon Port in Gijang County, Busan, and the Coast Guard and other authorities are currently trying to guide it back to the open sea.
On the 13th, Yonhap News, citing the Ulsan Coast Guard, reported that at around 5:05 a.m. that day, a report was received from an angler off the coast of Yeonhwari, Gijang County, Busan, stating, "It looks like a whale is stuck on the rocks."
The Ulsan Coast Guard, who were dispatched to the scene, initially determined that the whale had made its way out to the open sea and ended the situation. However, two hours later, an additional report was received that the whale had reappeared. Upon investigation, it was found that the whale had once gone outside the breakwater but had then come back inside Daebyeon Port. By around noon that day, the whale had moved into waters shallow enough to be observed with the naked eye at Daebyeon Port in Gijang County.
A baby false killer whale appeared at Daebyeon Port in Gijang County, Busan on the 13th. Photo by Ulsan Coast Guard, Yonhap News
This whale is estimated to be a baby sperm whale measuring 7 to 8 meters in length. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales in the world and hunt prey with their long, sharp teeth inside their mouths. Males can reach up to 18 meters, females 11 to 12 meters, and males can weigh up to 45 tons. Sperm whales are named for the substance called spermaceti, produced in their intestines and used as a high-grade perfume ingredient. They are especially well known as the main character in the novel "Moby-Dick" by American author Herman Melville. The main habitat of sperm whales is the seas near the equator off Africa, but they tend to migrate to higher latitudes with relatively lower water temperatures during the summer.
Officials from the National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research Center and Busan Aquarium have arrived on site to check the whale's condition and are guiding it so it can return to the open sea. The Coast Guard has deployed a rescue boat and is managing safety at the scene to prevent fishing boats from approaching the whale.
Lee Kyungri, a researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research Center, said, "Sperm whales that migrate through distant waters near the equator or move to higher latitudes in the summer sometimes pass through Korean waters, but it is unusual for them to come close to the coast. This individual appears to have become separated from its group or mother and come alone toward Daebyeon Port, and due to a lack of sense of direction, it seems unable to make its way back to the open sea."
Meanwhile, in April, a 15-meter-long sperm whale stayed for five days off the coast of Songdo at Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province before returning to the open sea.
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