Some local inhabitants in Phu Cat District of south-central Binh Dinh Province on Sunday spotted a large whale and a smaller one in the De Gi - Vung Boi waters, around one kilometer away from the shore.

Tran Van Tai, a local tour guide, said that he spotted the two whales, with the bigger measuring about 16 meters long and the smaller being around 12 meters long, swimming together when he was on a boat trip to the area on Sunday morning.

The two whales repeatedly dived and surfaced to feed on schools of small fishes, he recalled.

Some eyewitnesses posited that the two whales could be a mother whale and her calf that had appeared in the area last year.

They returned there to hunt for fishes, adding that the calf, despite being bigger and longer than it was last year, seemed to fear humans, they said.

In early August last year, a rare sighting of whales spotted swimming off the De Gi - Vung Boi waters captivated lots of photographers who came to take photos of the pod of whales and thereby helped promote tours to the locality.

The provincial fishery authority attributed the arrival of the whales to a large amount of fish in the De Gi waters, as diffuse schools of herrings and anchovies usually gather in the area during this season.

According to the Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species, the whales spotted in the Binh Dinh waters last year are Bryde’s whales. 

Bryde’s female whales nurse their calves for six months, so they normally opt for quiet and fish-rich waters to rest and nurse their calves.

Also, the fact that the mother whale chose the Binh Dinh waters again to hunt for fish is upbeat news, as it shows that the local sea environment has been improved and can meet the needs of whales.​

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