A whale weighing at least 15,000 kg has been returned to the sea with the help of local fishermen, border police and villagers in the city of Qiongshan, Hainan Province.

Rescue workers succeeded on Tuesday in tugging the huge animal back into the ocean with nets and thick ropes and two powerful fishing vessels.

A fisherman in Beigang village, located about 40 kms from the provincial capital of Haikou, spotted the beached whale in just 1. 5 meters of water on the morning of February 5, the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Rescuers built a plastic tent to shelter the whale from the scorching sun, but failed in their initial attempts to tug the animal back to sea with a fishing boat.

The whale is about 11 meters long (36.3 feet), 1.4 meters high.

Zoologists estimate that the rapid currents in the Qiongzhou Strait might have affected the whale's judgment of direction.