7m Mink Whale Found in Pohang, Gyeongbuk... Sold for 90 Million Won

No Evidence of Illegal Capture
Traded for 90.3 Million Won

A mink whale was found dead, entangled in a net, off the coast of Pohang, Gyeongbuk. This whale was traded for about 90.3 million KRW.

According to the Pohang Coast Guard on the 1st, at around 7:18 a.m., the captain of an 8-ton fishing vessel A (with 5 crew members) discovered the whale caught in a net 7.2 km offshore from Guryongpo Port, Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang City, and reported it to the coast guard.

A mink whale found dead, caught in a net, in the sea off Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang City, on the morning of the 1st.
[Photo by Pohang Maritime Police Station]

Captain B of vessel A said, "While working with the nets, I saw a whale entangled in a trap line, dead, and reported it."

The coast guard consulted the National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research Center and received confirmation that the whale was a male measuring 6.9 meters in length, 2.65 meters in girth, and weighing 2.7 tons.

Since no signs of illegal hunting such as harpoons were found on the whale, the coast guard issued a whale processing certificate to the captain.

The whale was auctioned through the Guryongpo Fisheries Cooperative for 90.3 million KRW.

Meanwhile, South Korea has prohibited the capture of whales and other internationally endangered species by enacting related laws under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1993.

Anyone who illegally hunts whales faces up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million KRW under the Fisheries Act and the Act on the Conservation and Management of Marine Ecosystems.

However, mink whales found dead entangled in nets are an exception. Such mink whales found dead are also called the "lottery of the sea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.