Advertiser Staff
A 20-foot-long baby humpback whale was struggling to free itself today after it was found beached near Chings’ Punalu'u store on Kamehameha Highway.
National Marine Fisheries Service personnel were called to the scene shortly after 10 a.m.
The whale was alive when it was found, but officials said it ran aground on the reef, would struggle free, then would get stuck again.
As of about 1:30 p.m., state and wildlife officials aboard three boats hoped to lead the whale back to the open ocean, fearing that it was injuring itself by repeatedly getting hung up on the coral reef.
Since the whale is an endangered species, an official from the National Fish and Wildlife Service was on hand to monitor the operation.
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