Sao Paulo:
Rescuers are trying to set free a 25-ton humpback whale stranded on a sand bank in southeastern Brazil.
Diogo Chaves of the environment department at the beach resort city of Buzios says the 39- foot-long (12-meter-long) whale got stranded on Monday while feeding on a school of small fish in shallow waters.
He said Tuesday that rescuers have tied ropes around the whale's body and that a tugboat will try to take it to open sea when the tide rises.
Chaves said he did not know what caused the whale to swim so close to shore.
Earlier this month, marine scientists said a record 75 humpback whales have been found dead on the Brazilian coast this year. The previous high was 41 in 2007. Most died at sea and their carcasses washed ashore.