MIRI: A villager made a startling discovery when he stumbled upon a beached whale near Kampung Siwak Bakam here this morning.
The villager said the whale was still alive when he found it about 6am today.
He immediately alerted the Fire and Rescue Department for help. It is understood that the authorities are on the scene to assist the mammal.
Whale stranded on Miri beach
STEPHEN THEN The Star 4 May 17;
MIRI: A 10m long whale, estimated to weigh about 1.5 tonnes, was found stranded on the beach at Kampung Siwak Bakam, some 30km south of the city.
Villagers and Fire and Rescue Department personnel are currently trying to push the huge creature back into the ocean.
Miri Fire chief Supt Law Poh Kiong said the villagers alerted his office about the incident at 7.10am on Thursday.
"The whale is still alive. We have a team of personnel there now.
"Together with the villagers, they are trying to help the whale back into the South China Sea," he said.
The seas off Miri are used by whales, sharks and dolphins during their annual migration from the northern hemisphere to the southern oceans off New Zealand and Australia.
Stranded whale on Miri beach freed
STEPHEN THEN The Star 4 May 17;
MIRI: The 10m-long whale that was stranded on a beach 30km south of Miri has been freed.
Miri Fire and Rescue Department chief Supt Law Poh Kiong said the gallant effort to free the whale paid off.
"The firemen and villagers (from Kampung Siwak Bakam) put in a good effort to gently push back the whale into deeper waters.
"The effort paid off. The whale is free. It swam away," he said.
Supt Law added that he is glad his department managed to mark World Firefighters' Day by successfully saving an endangered whale.