Whale hello there!

To the bewilderment of all passersby, a three-metre-long baby whale was spotted frolicking in Victoria Harbour near Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday at around 11am.

Experts believe it to be a young short-finned pilot whale, though we can’t be 100 percent sure.

If it’s indeed a specimen of this species, then until yesterday it had never before been seen in Hong Kong waters – at least to experts’ knowledge, reports Ming Pao.

The whale is believed to have lost its way, perhaps from hundreds of miles away – because why would any sea mammal intentionally wander around our traffic-heavy harbour?

The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation’s cetacean stranding response team immediately rushed to the scene but unfortunately (or fortunately for the whale), it had disappeared, hopefully back to the open ocean with its family.

It was last spotted yesterday at around 1:30pm. Click here for video footage of the sighting.

Short-finned pilot whales are usually seen in pods of 25 to 50 members.

Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society founder Samuel Hung told Coconuts HK that being separated from its pod threatens the whale’s ability to survive.

“They are very social and gregarious animals so being separated from the family pod would seriously compromise its chance to make it through, especially for a young juvenile,” Hung said.

If it is indeed still in the harbour, Hung says, “The best action would be to leave the whale alone, and make sure that it has a clear path to head out to open water. Minimising the noise in its surrounding area is of utmost importance to the animal, but [we all know] that would be impossible in Victoria Harbour…”

Quick, we need someone who speaks whale!

The short-finned pilot whale is the second largest species in the dolphin family (it’s not technically a whale!), and has been observed diving down to deep, dark depths of 500m.

They feed primarily on squid and, on this diet, reach average lengths of 3.7 metres for females and 5.5 metres for males.

Every once in a while, a real live cetacean is seen visiting our humble city.

Last year, a pod of 100 false killer whales was spotted meandering around our waters. Six years ago, a humpback whale was seen in Hong Kong. In 2003, a sperm whale (!) was stranded alive on a beach in Sai Kung.

Photos: Philippa Halton via Ming Pao

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