Mexicans return beached whale to sea

Volunteers and Navy personnel returned a 12-tonne whale to the sea after it became stranded on a beach in the southwestern Mexican city of Oaxaca, officials said Saturday. About 150 volunteers worked with over 40 Marines for 12 hours Friday on the Pacific Coast beach to keep the whale alive and maneuver it back into the water. Local military commanders ordered marine environmental protection officers, underwater specialists and other Navy personnel "to help the whale return to the sea," the Navy said in a statement. The marines used two patrol boats, a smaller boat and vehicles to move the whale off the beach and back into the ocean. The nine-meter (30-foot) whale suffered injuries to its right flipper, apparently from lying on its side on the beach, the Navy statement said.