AN autopsy conducted Thursday in Huizhou showed the dead sperm whale had a baby inside its placenta.

    At around 3:30 p.m., experts separated the baby whale, which is about 2 meters long and weighs 110 kilograms, from the placenta, but unfortunately the baby whale was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

    Attended by a team of 20 experts, the autopsy started Thursday morning at the Huizhou Marine and Fishery Science and Research Center after the sperm whale was hoisted from waters at Huizhou Port on Wednesday evening.

    “It is a pity. How much we have hoped a miracle could happen and the baby whale could survive after four days wavering in the Dapeng sea area with the mother,” said Tong Shenhan, head of the Xiamen Amphibious Creatures Research Institute, who participated in the autopsy.

    The autopsy showed that the tail of the whale had been injured, probably by rocks when it was stranded twice in the shallow waters of the Dapeng sea area.

    Rescue workers found that the sperm whale’s mouth was full of garbage when it was removed from the water and hoisted to land at Huizhou Port.

    Experts estimated that the whale probably died at 2 a.m. Wednesday when it became motionless following a fierce struggle. An in-water check showed that the animal’s head was fully submerged — indicating that it was no longer breathing.

    The cause of death still needs to be confirmed. Experts said that the whale may have chased food into the Dapeng sea area and lost orientation after its sound navigation and ranging system were damaged, which made it difficult to swim back into the deep sea.

    Experts will make the body of the whale into a specimen for science popularization and research. Many agencies, including Shenzhen Museum and Hong Kong Ocean Park, have expressed their intentions to preserve the specimen.

    (Han Ximin)