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Rare whale returns to sea after being stranded near Shantar Islands in Russia’s Far East

The endangered bowhead whale was escaping from a pack of killer whales

KHABAROVSK, September 25. /TASS/. An endangered bowhead whale that was stranded in shallow water near the Shantar Islands in the Khabarovsk Region, in Russia’s Far East, is now out of danger and back in the sea, Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia's environmental watchdog, said on her Telegram channel.

"We immediately notified the working group at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which monitors the population of bowhead whales in the region under our supervision. The scientists quickly arrived at the site to advise a group of people taking care of the whale. They monitored the mammal's condition, provided it with water, and kept the birds away. These actions allowed the whale to safely wait for high tide and return to sea. We are grateful to everyone for their coordinated efforts in assisting the whale," Radionova wrote.

The Far East Expeditions company said earlier that the whale’s breathing rate indicated that its condition was stable despite sustaining numerous wounds from a killer whale attack. The whale weighed about 100 tons.

In August 2017, the Shantar Islands saw a similar situation. A 13-meter-long bowhead whale escaping from a pack of killer whales was trapped in a shallow river flowing out of Bolshoye Lake on Bolshoy Shantar Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. The animal was injured. Scientists and Emergencies Ministry specialists waited for the night tide to help the whale extract itself and guide it away from the shore. State inspectors working at the Shantar Islands National Park poured water from fire pumps on the whale. After the tide came in, the whale broke free and swam out to sea.