Thu, October 28, 2010
A 25-ton humpback whale beached near Rio de Janeiro dies after several failed rescue attempts.
Rescue teams kept working even in the dark...hoping a high tide would help them bring a 25-ton whale beached in a tourist city near Rio de Janeiro back out to sea.
But shallow waters hampered their efforts and after two days of unsuccessful attempts to tug the 12-meter long animal from the sand, the whale died just after midnight.
Biologists said the humpback whale was likely heading to Antarctic waters after traveling to warmer Brazilian waters to mate.
This was the 90th whale to wash ashore on Brazil's southern coast this year...an unusually high number that has intrigued scientists. In 2009, only 30 whales were stranded in the region.
(AFP)
