Whale washed up on Chiba beach dies

Friday 03rd July, 04:26 AM JST

CHIBA —

A whale that was found washed up on a beach in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture on Wednesday died Thursday morning, the Sammu city office said. Believed to be a sperm whale, the 10-meter cetacean was spotted bleeding from its abdomen and tail on Kujukurihama beach by a local fisherman on Wednesday morning.

A city official in charge of dealing with the beached whale confirmed it was dead at around 10 a.m., after trying to keep it alive by pouring seawater on it at low tide in the morning, according to the office. The local government is considering burying the dead animal near the beach. When they found the whale, city officials and members of a local fisheries group decided to monitor it around the clock, thinking it too dangerous to use manpower to push it back into the Pacific Ocean or to use boats in shallow water to free it.

Kyodo

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 19 Total Comments Show All

mrsynik at 09:23 AM JST - 3rd July

Thats one less they'll need to pull out of the Southern Ocean later this year.
ratpack at 09:27 AM JST - 3rd July

Did it have a harpoon in his back??
BlackOut at 09:40 AM JST - 3rd July

after trying to keep it alive by pouring seawater on it at low tide in the morning

comeon, those people are difference from the japanese whaler.
knackerz at 09:43 AM JST - 3rd July

Perhaps the whale wanted to do some scientific research on humans.
ratpack at 10:30 AM JST - 3rd July

Knackerz..very good
oberst at 10:46 AM JST - 3rd July

it just doesn't sound right about japanese trying to save a whale.
davidattokyo at 12:12 PM JST - 3rd July

oberst - why not?

A sperm whale was "saved" down in central japan just recently. That was all over the japanese media, for some reason I didn't see mention of it here at JT (maybe I missed it). And a year or so back a fisherman in Ehime was killed when trying to help a sperm whale there as well.

Killing them is illegal, so what else do you expect anyway?
OssanAmerica at 12:19 PM JST - 3rd July

it just doesn't sound right about japanese trying to save a whale.

I thinks you're ansolutely right. That's because for many in the anti-whaling crowd, the whaling issue disguises a degree of racisim either overt or latent, exemplified by the position that all Japanese must be whale killers or that they all eat whale meat. This is called stereoytping, and manifests itself by the inability to see the Japanese as individual people with individual opinions. It was noble of you to bring this up.
Xinef at 12:28 PM JST - 3rd July

Maybe the fact that it was a sperm whale discouraged the local sushi bar...
BlackOut at 01:08 PM JST - 3rd July

Maybe the fact that it was a sperm whale discouraged the local sushi bar..

every japanese i know, no one like or even want to pay for that expensive meat. one of my friend even said, it is only stupid people want to pay for the mercury soaked meat!
Sharyn at 05:17 PM JST - 3rd July

What?

The locals didnt have a chainsaw handy like the last beached whale in japan. Or more likely, sperm whales arn't as tasty as the other chainsawed whales unlucky enough to find themselves on a japanese beach.
Nessie at 05:24 PM JST - 3rd July

Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been Saitama.
Sharyn at 11:07 PM JST - 3rd July

Ossanamerica,

I thinks you're ansolutely right. That's because for many in the anti-whaling crowd, the whaling issue disguises a degree of racisim either overt or latent, exemplified by the position that all Japanese must be whale killers or that they all eat whale meat. This is called stereoytping, and manifests itself by the inability to see the Japanese as individual people with individual opinions. It was noble of you to bring this up.<

Please do not continue to drag out the rasicm card continually in an attempt to disguise the reality of the topic at hand.

If you really want to look at racism, we could compare the immigration policies of japan and other nations. Or maybe check how many "no foreigner/gagin" signs on buildings around tokoyo. But that is not the topic at hand is it, and to be honest, no one outside of japan really cares much about there racialy discriminate immigration policies, because the truth is, Japan has the right to impliment any policies they feel benefit japan as a whole, and have every right to do that.

They do not however have a right to rape and pillage the oceans at will. Oceans that are shared by all nations, not just japan.
Sharyn at 11:15 PM JST - 3rd July

Blackout, Your so right, less than 1% of the japanese public eat whale meat anymore..so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me why they are spending so much money and time and effort pushing extremely hard for a return to commercial whaling?
Sharyn at 11:42 PM JST - 3rd July

davidtokoyo,

Killing them is illegal, so what else do you expect anyway?<

Fin and humpback whales are also endangered species, yet japan has hunted fin whales and wants to include humpbacks on their kill list every year?

So why do you say sperm whales are illegal to kill, when they are on the same list as fin and humback whales, which japan kills regardless of their endangered status?.