An 8-meter-long whale has been spotted near the mouth of the Yodo River in Osaka over the past few days, a rare sighting of the large mammal in Osaka Bay, according to the coast guard.
A truck driver at a parking area near the river mouth reported spotting what appeared to be a whale shortly after 7:30 a.m. Monday. A coast guard vessel has been dispatched to the site and has been monitoring the whale to keep it from going further upstream.
The coast guard also warned ships navigating the area to watch out for the animal.
On Tuesday, the whale moved roughly 100 meters southwest from the site where it was first spotted.
"It could be a young sperm whale living in the Pacific Ocean that strayed from its herd. It may be frail because it looked as though it was just floating," Tsutomu Tamura of the Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean Research said in a statement.
Osaka Bay is largely enclosed by Awaji Island, with just two narrow passages to the north and south. The southern opening leads to the Pacific.
