'The Sea Lotto' Caught and Killed in Net... 5m Mink Whale Found Off Yeongdeok Coast

Sold at 72 million KRW at Hupo Fisheries Cooperative

A minke whale, known as the 'Lotto of the Sea,' was found dead entangled in a net off the coast of Yeongdeok, Gyeongbuk.

Appearance of a 5m long mink whale [Photo by Gyeongbuk Uljin Maritime Police Agency, Yonhap News]

On the 25th, the Uljin Coast Guard in Gyeongbuk reported that at around 4:30 a.m., the captain of a 20-ton fishing vessel A, operating 1.3 km east of Sajin 2-ri, Yeonghae-myeon, Yeongdeok-gun, reported "bycatch of a whale caught and dead in a gillnet." Upon inspection at the scene by the Uljin Coast Guard Livestock Police Substation, the whale was confirmed to be a female minke whale measuring 5 meters in length and 2 meters 25 cm in girth.

The Coast Guard found no evidence of illegal capture and issued a 'Whale Processing Certificate' to the captain of vessel A (a man in his 60s). The whale was auctioned at Hupo Fisheries Cooperative for 72 million KRW. A Uljin Coast Guard official urged, "If a dead whale is found on the shore or at sea, please report it immediately to the Coast Guard."

Meanwhile, during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, a 4.5-meter-long minke whale was also caught as bycatch off the coast of Uljin and sold for 38 million KRW. At around 4:30 a.m. on the 9th, a whale was caught in the net of a 5-ton fishing vessel B about 24.1 km northeast of Hupo Port, Uljin-gun. The captain of vessel B said, "While retrieving the net set two weeks ago, I found the whale entangled and dead in the net and reported it to the Coast Guard."

Additionally, on the 30th of last month, a large minke whale was found dead on the northernmost coast of Baengnyeongdo in the West Sea. The Incheon Green Alliance and Incheon Coast Guard announced that at 12:49 p.m. on the 25th of last month, a dead minke whale was found on the northern coast of Baengnyeongdo, Ongjin-gun, Incheon. This whale was female, measuring 7.4 meters in length and 5 meters in girth.

After receiving a report from fishermen, the Coast Guard confirmed there was no sign of illegal capture and handed over the whale carcass to the Baengnyeong-myeon Office. According to the notice on the conservation and management of whale resources, if a whale is not caught in a net but is stranded or drifting, it cannot be distributed or sold and must be disposed of. Accordingly, the township office moved the whale carcass to land for burial at a marine waste disposal site and collected whale samples to send to the National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research Institute.

Anyone who illegally captures whales is subject to imprisonment of up to three years 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, minke whales found dead entangled in nets are an exception, and such whales caught dead and found are sold for large sums, earning them the nickname 'Lotto of the Sea.'

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