Locals push the whale back to the sea. (Photo: baohaitnh.vn)

The black back, white belly whale is about 8m long and more than 1m in diameter. Over 40 fishermen and border soldiers tried to push the whale, which was lying exhausted on the shore several meters from the water. They splashed seawater on the whale to help it recover. The whale was washed back to shore by the waves several times.

But the fishermen persisted in helping it swim against strong waves. After about 12 hours, the whale showed signs of recovery and swam away.

Many people stayed at the beach in order to promptly help it if it was washed back ashore, but no one reported seeing it again.