A small Bryde's Whale appears in waters around Dapeng Bay in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province on Sunday. Local officials established special work team to protect the rare animal. Photo: cnsphoto

A rare whale was seen in the waters around Dapeng Bay in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, with local officials establishing a special work team to protect the animal and calling for boats to pass by without watching, which gained widespread praise from netizens.

According to experts' observation, this is a small Bryde's Whale with a body length of about eight meters, and it is in good health. The Bryde's Whale was listed as a first-class national protected animal by the Chinese Forestry and Grassland Administration in 2021.

Experts reached by the Global Times suggested that local officials should not interfere with the activities of the whale, and they should wait to see how long it stays.

The whale was spotted in the waters of Dapeng Bay on Tuesday and has been staying in the area since, according to the general office of Dapeng New District in Shenzhen.

The whale was reportedly first found by local fishermen on Tuesday afternoon who recognized it as a sperm whale, according to the Shenzhen Evening News on Saturday.

Chen Bingyao, an associate professor from Nanjing University School of Life Sciences, said that the whale's presence near the shore may be "an accidental behavior" and may "have some relationship with the closure of navigation channels in Yantian Port in Shenzhen," reported Southern Metropolis Daily.

Wang Yamin, a professor at Shandong University's School of Oceanography, told the Global Times on Sunday that the whale may have come to the area for looking for food. "The Bryde's Whale feeds on small fish and shrimps, and offshore waters have more food resources," Wang said.

Wang suggested that local traffic vessels should try to detour or watch the whale from a distance rather than getting too close, so as to avoid disturbing its activity.

"The stay in Dapeng Bay may be only temporary, as whales normally have a wide range of movement, maybe even across oceans," Wang said. "Further observation is needed to see whether it will stay for long time."

The protection measures and notices released by the local government reflected a harmonious coexistence between man and nature, experts said.

To protect the whale, Dapeng New District set up a joint work team on Friday, which consists of groups such as the office, a marine environment group, a research and rescue group and a publicity group.

On Saturday, Dapeng New District released notices on Sina Weibo to remind boats to maintain a safe speed when sailing through the surrounding waters, observe and drive carefully, and avoid disturbing or feeding the whale.

The environmental protection department of the district has strengthened monitoring of the water quality of the outlets into the sea, which were shown to have excellent quality.

Netizens on Sina Weibo also had huge interest in the whale, which was given a name "Little Bu." Activities and scientific knowledge about the whale was livestreamed on the platform by several media, attracting 170 million views and more than 113,000 comments as of press time.

"The environment of Shenzhen is really getting better," a netizen commented.