10-meter dead whale washes ashore on Vietnam island amid storm Bualoi

Dang Sam, who found the whale around 1:00 pm, said the whale had decomposed heavily, likely having died about five days earlier.

“Fishing nets were still wrapped tightly around its body. It may have become entangled in ghost nets and drifted ashore after dying,” Sam said.

Based on its length, local fishermen estimated the whale could have weighed about seven metric tons when alive.

Due to rough seas and strong winds, villagers have not yet been able to bury the whale.

“Once the sea calms, we will hold a burial in line with our long-standing whale worship tradition,” Sam added.

In central Vietnam, whales, revered as ‘ca Ong’ or the ‘Lord Whale,' are considered guardian deities protecting fishermen at sea.

When a whale dies and washes ashore, locals organize a solemn funeral with rites similar to those for a human being, including burial, memorial services on the third, 49th, and 100th days, and eventual reburial of the bones in communal temples.

These sites often house whale skeletons several meters long, serving as sacred symbols of protection and prosperity for fishing communities.

Currently, the carcass remains on Be Island’s beach in the Ly Son Special Zone.

Residents plan to conduct the burial immediately after storm Bualoi passes.

Ly Son is also home to Vietnam’s two largest whale skeletons, preserved at Tan Temple.

One measures 22 meters long and nearly four meters high, while the other spans 18 meters.

Both were restored in 2020 and recognized by the Vietnam Records Organization as the country’s largest whale skeletons.

Storm Bualoi, the 10th storm to hit the East Vietnam Sea this year, made landfall in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam in the early hours of Monday, packing winds of 75-100 kph, toppling houses and power poles, and causing widespread power outages.

According to a rapid report from the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control released at 8:00 am on Monday, storm Bualoi and subsequent flooding have caused casualties and property damage in Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang, and Quang Ngai.

At least two people have been confirmed dead, including one in Hue City who was swept away by floodwaters on Saturday night and another in Thanh Hoa being killed by a falling tree.

Four others remain missing, while 17 people in Quang Tri and Gia Lai Provinces are currently unaccounted for.