Locals try to save 12 pilot whales that were found stranded in tidal flats in eastern China.
Locals try to save 12 pilot whales that were found stranded in tidal flats in eastern China.
Twelve pilot whales were found stranded in tidal flats in eastern China on Tuesday morning, with two of the whales already suspected to be dead.

Rescue efforts from local government officials, fishermen and volunteers started quickly after the discovery but none of the whales had been rescued as of Tuesday afternoon.

The whales were first discovered by fishermen in Linhai, a city near the ocean in Zhejiang province in eastern China. The fishermen called the police and said that "there were a lot of big fish" on the mudflats, according to Qianjiang Evening News.

The police at first thought they were dolphins and started by contacting experts from a local aquarium. When aquarium staff arrived at the scene, they identified the animals as pilot whales, which are part of the dolphin family.


As it became clear that the animals were in trouble - it was over 30 degrees Celsius in the area - local residents covered the animals in sheets and blankets soaked in water to help them cool down and stay moist. The group also built canopies to protect the whales from the sun.

Zhu Yupeng, a staff from the local ocean and fishery authority, told Qianjiang Evening News that they placed one pilot whale back in the ocean but it kept swimming back to the shallow waters. They speculated that it was sick, which caused a problem with its navigation.

The experts suspected two of the animals were dead. They are trying to deliver two to the aquarium and the remaining eight are still soaking in the shallow waters, with staff and volunteers by their side.

Hao Yujiang, an assistant researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told The Beijing News that one strategy for handling the beached whales would be to wait until the tide rises and "try releasing them to see if they swim away. Otherwise they will have to transfer them to an artificial environment or a harbour area for treatment".

Pilot whales typically grow to be about 5-6.5 metres long (16 to 21 feet) and can weigh up to 3.2 tonnes. They tend to live for between 45 to 60 years.

In 2017, 12-metre-long (40 feet) sperm whale was spotted trapped in fishing nets in the waters near Shenzhen, Guangdong province. After it was freed, it kept swimming back to shallow waters and later died.