Suspected Bryde’s whale seen off the coast of China near Shenzhen feeding and playing
- Bryde’s whales are marked by three ridges on the top. Its back is a darker grey, its abdomen is white but sometimes pink
- These whales live in the oceans in the tropical and temperate zones
A whale has been sighted near the coast in the southern city of Shenzhen for the last two days, delighting locals.
Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported that according to the Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration, around 4pm on Tuesday, a small whale was spotted near Dapeng Bay; the administration had issued a warning for nearby ships to avoid the mammal.
Witnesses said the whale swam in this area for an hour and then headed west, towards the sea near Yantian district, the newspaper reported.
On Wednesday, the whale was spotted again, an environmental volunteer said. She watched the whale feeding on fish as she stood on a boat, from a distance.
Chen Mo, a researcher at Guangxi Academy of Sciences who has been observing whales at nearby Weizhou island for more than five years, told Shenzhen Economic Daily he suspects the whale in the video is a common Bryde’s whale, its babies usually are 3.5 to 4 metres long, and adults are up to 11 metres long, weighing 15 to 25 tonnes.