Large whale buried in glass tomb in southern Vietnam

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Large whale buried in glass tomb in southern Vietnam
Last updated: 3/8/2010 18:15

A 15-ton whale is moved for burial in a glass tomb in the southern province of Bac Lieu on Thursday
span.text{;}The body of a 15-ton whale found dead at sea last month was buried in a glass tomb in the southern province of Bac Lieu on Thursday morning, allowing local people who worship the giant mammal to come pray at the site.
According to Hoa Binh’s authorities, the tomb housing the 16-meter long mammal was 17.2 meters long, 7.2 meters wide and one meter high.
It was estimated to cost some VND300 million (US$15,723), including over VND100 million contributed by local people who suggested preserving the giant ocean mammal as it is often worshipped as the God of the sea.
Hoa Binh’s People Committee chairman Tran Van Tam said the tomb would serve as a scared place for local people to pay respects to the whale. He said it would also be a tourism site that could prompt the district to launch its plans to build an ecological tourism area sooner than expected.
Since news about the largest-ever whale found in Bac Lieu spread last week, thousands of people from all over the country have come to see it every day, encouraging a variety of food and drink vendors to set up shop nearby, said lieutenant-colonel Nguyen Van Dang, head of the local border guard unit.
However, Khuu Le, vice director of Bac Lieu Department of Natural Resources and Environment, warned that the whale body would only remain preserved for “several” years, as the main preservative - formol, a 10 percent solution of formaldehyde in water – was used with limited amount given its giant size.
In the meantime, related agencies were yet to release the cause of death as well as the age and species of the whale, which was found dead some 26 sea miles off Vinh Thinh on February 21.

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NEWSBREAKER Christine Balmer, took these photos of the fish in a bucket

It's raining fish ... no really
DANIEL BOURCHIER
February 28th, 2010




WHILE the Top End and Central Australia have been battered by torrential rains, a Territory town has had fish falling from the sky.
The freak phenomena happened not once, but twice, on Thursday and Friday afternoon about 6pm at Lajamanu, about 550km southwest of Katherine.

NEWSBREAKER Christine Balmer, who took these photos of the fish on the ground and in a bucket, had to pinch herself when she was told ``hundreds and hundreds" of small white fish had fallen from the sky.

"It rained fish in Lajamanu on Thursday and Friday night," she said, "They fell from the sky everywhere.
"Locals were picking them up off the footy oval and on the ground everywhere.

"These fish were alive when they hit the ground."
Mrs Balmer, the aged care co-ordinator at the Lajamanu Aged Care Centre, said her family interstate thought she had lost the plot when she told them about the event.

"I haven't lost my marbles," she said, reassuring herself. "Thank god it didn't rain crocodiles."

Lajamanu sits on the edge of the Tanami Desert, hundreds of kilometres from Lake Argyle and Lake Elliott and even further from the coast. But it's not the first time the remote community has been bombarded by fins from above.
In 2004, locals reported fish falling from the sky, and in 1974, a similar incident captured international headlines.
The small white fish are believed to be spangled perch, which are very common through much of northern Australia.

Weather bureau senior forecaster Ashley Patterson said the geological conditions were perfect on Friday for a tornado in the Douglas Daly region.

He said it would have been an ideal weather situation to allow the phenomena to occur - but no tornados have been reported to the authority.

"It's a very unusual event," he said. "With an updraft, (fish and water picked up) could get up high - up to 60,000 or 70,000 feet.
"Or possibly from a tornado over a large water body - but we haven't had any reports," he said.

Have you seen fish falling from the sky, or know what sort of fish they are? Call 8944 9724 and let us know.

[gjb1969]

ok to each his own