They rescued a Whale that was stranded in Sonora

During the morning of Wednesday, July 7, on the shores of Puerto Peñasco, in the state of Sonora, a whale appeared stranded.

Thanks to the joint work between inhabitants of the area and staff from Profepa, Zofemat, Municipal Police, Civil Protection, Firefighters, Secretary of the Navy, they managed to return it to the waters of the Sea of ​​Cortez.

The 10 meter long whale, weighing approximately 5 tons, was stuck between rocks in the lookout area.

The events occurred around 6:00 am this Wednesday at El Mirador beach, north of Sonora, and it was until citizens who were walking through the place realized that the species was on the seashore in their attempt to hunt for food, according to Profepa reports.

Alan Ontiveros López, who is the coordinator of Civil Protection, reported that the whale report was received through C5 at 5:40 am, for which they went to the lookout area to confirm the presence of the cetacean and thus activate ZOFEMAR of the Marine.

“It is a male juvenile gray whale, which very possibly it was nearby looking for food and unfortunately the low tide expelled it from the sea, but fortunately with the help of the Army, volunteers and the good surf conditions, we were able to return it”, he declared.

After the protocol 059 for the protection of marine species, which consists of carrying out actions to keep it hydrated and without stress, while the tide rises, rescuers and civil protection, who were in charge of carrying buckets of water to facilitate the work, it took about four hours for the mammal to return to the sea.

The cetacean was stranded in search of food.

It is understood that the rescuers removed about 10 tons of stone to form a channel, and after the tide reached to completely cover the cetacean, between 70 men pushed it.

“An unbeatable experience because the response was quick, the call ran immediately throughout the port, It is rare that on these dates and with the temperature of 30 degrees that the sea registers, the whales are circulating”, detailed the marine biologist Humberto González Veliz for the newspaper The Day, as well as also highlighted that between the months of February and March are when these types of sightings occur most.

About 70 men helped push the mammal.

According to the marine biologists who participated in the rescue, it was a young male balaenoptera physalus fin whale, approximately 11 months old and in good health, which allowed his rescue to be carried out quickly and successfully.

“It is super news because normally when the animals run aground is very difficult to return them and for them to continue their swim, it is like their euphoria. How Civil Protection, the city council, firefighters, the Navy and civil society organizations joined and they will see the general public support the rescue”, said the biologist, Célida Barajas.

When the whale moved with an approximate length of 10 meters, snorted a couple of times and swam until it entered the sea, the state authorities, citizens, tourists and collaborators of various institutions celebrated its achievement with shouts and applause.

For the next several hours, the whale was monitored to prevent it from returning to the beach.