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The residents of Checheng in Pingtung woke up to a sad scene on Tuesday morning. Eleven pygmy killer whales got stranded at the beach, prompting a race against time to save them. Volunteers rushed to the beach to keep the animals wet and upright, while experts checked their vitals and scanned them for injuries. Depending on their health condition, they’ll be taken back to sea as quickly as possible, or to a facility so they can recover from any injuries.

Volunteers cover a stranded pygmy killer whale with towels and douse it with water to keep it wet as they try to soothe the stranded animal. It is weak after running ashore on the beach, but the saddest part is, it’s not alone.

This short stretch of the coast is dotted with black blobs. Each of them is a stranded whale. This is the beach next to the Haikou Harbor in Pingtung’s Checheng Township. Fishermen reported seeing a large pod approaching the shore in the early morning on Tuesday. Eleven of the whales ended up stranded. By the time rescuers arrived, four had perished.

Pan Fang-chuan
Pingtung County Councilor (DPP)
Local fishermen discovered the whales coming ashore and reported it.

Tu Chan-lung
Coast Guard Administration
Efforts are underway to rescue the seven whales that are still alive, and we’ve cordoned off the area.

The area has been cordoned off in response to the mass stranding event. Coast guard officers and experts have rushed to the area to help. They conducted medical checks on the whales, and ensured that they stayed upright on the shore, to not injure their pectoral fins.

Pan Fang-chuan
Pingtung County Councilor (DPP)
When I was little, there would often be strandings, more than now. There were times when there were 20 or 30 whales. There aren’t as many nowadays.

A local councilor says strandings used to be more commonplace in the past. Pygmy killer whales are social animals, and it is thought that they were being given chase by a bigger predator. It’s also possible that the leader of the pack simply got lost, causing them to end up on the beach. So what should you do if you discover a shored cetacean?

Hsu Hsiang-jung
Ocean Conservation Administration
You should hold them upright, and keep them wet. Then, experts take their heart rate and breathing.

Wang Hao-wen
NCKU Cetacean Research Center
If they are in good health, we try to release them on the spot. But if they are injured, we bring them in to a rescue site.

Everyone is helping out to return the beached whales back to their home in the sea.

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