A whale stranded on the beach of a town in Shizuoka Prefecture died despite two days of frantic efforts to return it to the sea. The male sperm whale weighing 50 tons and measuring 16 meters long, was found lying on the beach in Osuka, a town facing the Pacific Ocean, on the morning of April 6, 2000.

Town officials and volunteers rushed to the scene and used power shovels to dig a channel to deeper waters in the hope that the whale could swim back to sea. But it was already too weak to do so. Experts said that the beached whale's muscles and internal organs may have been crushed under its own weight.

Experts and citizens stayed with the whale around the clock, sprinkling seawater to keep its skin wet. With the rising of the tide the following morning, local fishermen tried to pull the whale back into waters using three boats. But the ropes around its tail tore because of its weight.

They continued to pour seawater on the whale while trying to come up with other ways to save it. But the whale gradually lost its strength and passed away just past noon on April 7.

After the whale was shown on TV, thousands of people from throughout the region came to the small fishing town to cheer the whale on. "People were hoping it would be able to return to sea," said Osuka Mayor Noriyuki Ito. "The best thing we could do now, we felt, was to bury it on the beach where it came ashore."

The whale was buried deep beneath the beach. May it rest in peace.

Photo: Even the best efforts of local people could not save the whale. (PANA)