THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 17, 2023 at 17:40 JST
The carcass of "Yodo-chan" the whale is seen floating in Osaka Bay near the mouth of the Yodogawa river on Jan. 17. (Satoru Iizuka)
OSAKA--The final resting place for “Yodo-chan,” the solo whale who recently surfaced in Osaka Bay and later died, will likely be back in the ocean.
“I want to send the whale back home to the ocean posthumously because it came from there,” Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui told reporters on Jan. 17.
Matsui said the city government would make a formal decision by the end of the day and hopefully complete the “burial” process by the end of the week.
If the carcass is left to decompose much longer, its flatulent body might explode.
Matsui said officials will likely remove gas from the whale’s body first, then transport it offshore by boat and release it for burial at sea.
The whale, measuring 15 meters in length, strayed into Osaka Bay and was first spotted near the mouth of the Yodogawa river in the city on Jan. 9.
The rare sight of a marine mammal in the bay quickly drew crowds and attracted national media attention, and earned it the nickname Yodo-chan.
However, the whale was confirmed dead on Jan. 13.
‘Yodo-chan’ the whale confirmed dead in waters of Osaka Bay
January 13, 2023
Whale called ‘Yodo-chan’ barely moving in Osaka Bay
January 11, 2023
Whale enters Osaka Bay, hangs out near Yodogawa river
January 9, 2023
11-meter dead whale buried in Osaka to retrieve bones in 2 years
August 25, 2021
Extra 230 billion yen required to develop Osaka Expo venue
January 24, 2022
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
