JAKARTA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sailors on Saturday helped a whale get back into the sea after being stranded in a river in Indonesia's Central Java province, an official has said.
The whale with some injuries was predicted to have swum into a river in Ujungmanik village of Cilacap district when the level of sea surface rose, and failed to return to the sea when sea waters receded, head of the village Sugeng Budiyatno said.
"When the first time found, the whale remained alive, albeit several wounds found on it. Thank God, the sailors have successfully helped the whale get back into the sea," he said.
About 20 sailors were involved in the effort to rescue the eight-meter long whale, he added.
The stranded whale was first seen at 06 : 00 a.m. local time on Saturday and it was successfully rescued at 09 : 30 a.m..
Indonesia is a vast archipelago home to over 17, 500 islands.
