Rare 26-foot Whale's Death Sparks Fury at Whale-watchers

The death of a rare whale off the coast of Hong Kong has sparked rage on social media, with many blaming whale-watchers for the creature's death.

The 26-foot whale was found floating dead in the waters off Shelter Island on Monday by local fishermen and has now been taken for an autopsy.

It is thought that the dead whale may be the same as a rare Bryde's whale, spotted off Sai Kung on July 13. It was found to have fresh wounds near the dorsal fin on its back, as well as traces of previous injuries.

"Apart from two old wounds on the back, there was a very obvious new wound on the dorsal fin of the whale. The old wounds were on the farther part of the whale's back, while the new wound was at the center of the back," Compass Chan, the scientific officer of the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation said at a media briefing on Monday evening, as reported by the Hong Kong Free Press.

The whale's death has led many people online to suggest that if it was the same Bryde's whale seen weeks ago, its death may have come as a result of sightseers flocking to see the creature from boats, the South China Morning Post reported.

Some suggested that the presence of the boats may have prevented the whale from getting back out to sea, or that one of the boats' propellors may have injured the whale.

"Those who went on those boat rides are the killers of the whale," one Facebook comment reads, as reported by the South China Morning Post. Another said: "The boatmen and those who went out to watch the whale are all accomplices, and karma will hit them back. It was living by itself in the sea. It shouldn't have had to have deal with such nuisances."

However, the reason for the whale's death, and if it even is the same one as the that from a few weeks ago, is still unknown.

"We didn't have consistent monitoring of the whale. There is no way to know for sure what happened to it exactly," Taison Chang Kai-tai, chairman of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, told the South China Morning Post.

"The stress from boat tours during the day and nearby fishing vessels during nighttime may not be the direct cause of the whale's death, but they might have hastened its demise. Each of the ships' engines is a source of underwater noise. They could have acted as loudspeakers, preventing the whale from finding its way back to the open ocean and searching for food."

The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong said in a statement last week that large crowds of people had been seen flocking to the animal, and warned mariners and tourists to steer clear of the whale to avoid it becoming injured or distressed. The whale seen at the time also had old injuries, although whether or not they are the same as the deceased whale's older injuries is yet to be confirmed.

The exact cause of the death is still unknown, however, and will remain unclear until the autopsy results are complete.

"According to preliminary autopsies, new wounds were found in addition to known wounds, and the specific cause of death will be subject to further test results," the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a Facebook post.

Bryde's whales are a rarely-seen species of whale, measuring up to 40 feet long. They are found around the world, and come in two subspecies: B. brydei and B. edeni. There are thought to be only around 100,000 throughout the world's oceans, and they are under threat from vessel strikes, fishing gear and scientific whaling.

Being hit by a boat or ship can seriously injure or even kill whales and other marine life; around 20,000 whales are killed each year due to vessel strikes, research from nonprofit organization Friend of the Sea found.

The dead Hong Kong whale was towed toward the west dam of High Island Reservoir, where the autopsy is currently taking place, with organ and blood samples being taken to determine the creature's health.

"The incident shows we might have treated wildlife in an inappropriate way," Tse Chin-wan, Hong Kong secretary for environment and ecology, said in a news briefing on Tuesday, suggesting that whale-watching may have disturbed or hurt the whale. He said that he would urge the government to set up legal protections for whales in the area.

"Unless working under a special scientific permit for research, all vessels and other watercraft should stay at least 100 meters (110 yards) from the whale to avoid disturbance and injury," Thomas Jefferson, a marine mammal biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the South China Morning Post.

In the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Facebook post, the department promises to "step up public education to enhance public awareness of wildlife protection; develop plans to deal with similar situations to enhance efficiency; dispatch staff to exchange and learn from experiences in places with more experience; and examine whether laws and codes can be revised to better handle similar situations in the future."

Newsweek contacted the department for comment via email on Tuesday.

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