The 10.8-meter-long baleen whale carcass remained stranded yesterday on the shallows of Hung Shek Mun, northeast of the Plover Cove Reservoir in Tai Po. Due to the massive size of the carcass, estimated to weigh between ten and fifteen tons, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is currently studying ways to transport it. However, as no final decision has been made, it is believed that the removal of the carcass will not be arranged within the next few days.
The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation's Cetacean Stranding Response Team, after obtaining tissue samples from the carcass, will send them to Japanese experts for identification to determine the species of the whale.
The incident occurred on the 29th of last month, when villagers discovered the giant whale carcass washed ashore by currents onto the Hung Shek Mun shallows. The whale was found belly-up and had begun to decompose. It is believed that the whale died after being injured by fishing nets or ropes in the deep sea before being carried by currents to strand in Hong Kong.
