人民网3月16日报道，在江苏盐城市滨海县境内的黄海海域搁浅（got stranded）的4头鲸鱼，经抢救无效全部死亡，目前死鲸后续处理工作在进行中。搁浅的4头鲸鱼大的有三四十吨重，小的也有近二十吨重。目前，地方渔政和边防部门（border detachment）正在对4头死亡鲸鱼（whale carcass）进行看护，等待权威部门作出处理决定。

但3月17日晚，有网友在事发海边报料，夜里有人开车带着刀具把鲸鱼肉割下，有的抹香鲸大半个尾部被砍去，有的部分鳍（fin）被割掉，4头抹香鲸（sperm whales）均遭盗割。18日，有目击者称，现场看到被割肉的鲸鱼，肉体暴露，地面全是血迹，旁边很多市民围观（gathered on the beach to witness）。当地渔民估算，被割去的肉将近100公斤。

据连云港海洋博物馆馆长刘军馆长推测，盗割者可能是为了利益驱使，拿鲜美的肉去非法牟利，也不排除有些人是为了想尝尝鲸鱼肉。抹香鲸肉味鲜美，近似牛肉，可鲜食或制成各类罐头；皮坚韧可作制革原料；体油、脑油（spermaceti）和龙涎香（ambergris）是其身上的三大宝物，具有很高的经济价值（economic value）。 　　

据了解，抹香鲸身上的香腺是名贵的中药，名为“龙涎香”。它储存在结肠和直肠内，刚取出时臭味难闻，存放一段时间逐渐发香，胜“麝香”。龙涎香内含25%的龙涎素，是珍贵香料（precious spices）的原料，是使香水保持芬芳的最好物质，用于香水固定剂（perfume fixative）。

赶到现场指挥救援的南京师范大学专家认定，这4头巨鲸为世界上最大的齿鲸（toothed whales）——抹香鲸，一母三公。据悉，这是自1985年以来，中国海域发生的第二次大规模鲸鱼搁浅死亡（mass beaching of whales）事件。

【相关英文报道】

Four sperm whales that got stranded ashore died on Saturday in the coastal city of Yancheng, in East China's Jiangsu province, more than 24 hours after rescue attempts began.

The dead whales were lying ashore with most of their bodies out of water. Pieces of flesh had been cut from at least one of the whales' bodies for food, according to a report by China Radio International on Sunday.

Five rescue plans were put forward, including using helicopters and large vessels to pull the whales back out to sea, digging water channels to refloat them and waiting for a huge rising tide.

"But because of the size and physical condition of the whales, all plans failed," said Xu Xinrong, an animal researcher from Nanjing Normal University who specializes in cetacean mammals.

Sperm whales, though distributed in nearly all of the earth's oceans, prefer deep waters and can dive to a depth of 2,200 meters, said Xu. Local authorities said that disposing of the whale carcasses was now a problem.

Because whales are listed as a national grade II animal for key protection in China, local authorities were waiting for instructions from the Ministry of Agriculture's fishery command center.