A set of whale skeleton in Ly Son (Photo: thanhnien.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The recreation of two sets of whale skeleton in Ly Son islanddistrict off the coast of the central province of Quang Ngai basically completed after two months of the work,Secretary of the Ly Son Party Committee Nguyen Minh Tri has said.
The sets, previouslydamaged about 40 percent, dated back to about 250-300 years ago.
They measure22m and 18m in length, with the first being believed to be among the largest in Vietnam so far.
The mammalsare both nearly 4m high and have 50 vertebrae on their spine, along with 28 pairsof ribs. The skulls are 4m wide.
A projectto restore the skeletons and build an exhibition area for conservation,cultural studies and tourism development was carried out with a budget of 14billion VND (616,470 USD).
Ly Son islandcurrently has seven whale temples which are home to dozens of skeleton each.
Thetemples, known as Lang Ong, are often seen in coastal fishing villages inVietnam, reflecting an old fishermen’s belief in the whale’s power to guardtheir lives at sea.
Fishermenalso express respect for the giant ocean mammals when they find them dead, andperform a respectful funeral./.
