Police Constables William Chik Wai-ho and Chan Ping-leung, who assisted in re-launching a beached false killer whale in Sai Kung last month, were expressing their sentiments on learning that it had since died, probably from a lung infection.

The two Sai Kung Division Patrol Sub-unit 1 officers were assigned to handle an "animal found" case in which a two-metre-long false killer whale was reported beached in Tai Long Sai Wan.

Mr Chik continued: "Common sense told us that a whale would die if it remained for long out of the sea, so we moved it back into water deep enough to keep its body wet."

Mr Chan told OffBeat that the rescue was a test of their stamina. "Carrying out a rescue with more than half of your body submerged in water was not an easy task. Whenever the waves pushed the whale's body towards the beach, we had to push it back to deeper water. It was an exhausting process."

Fortunately, four marine animal researchers arrived and, working together, they had been able to get the baby whale safely into deeper water and it eventually swam away of its own accord.

"The poor weather and the feeling of tiredness, hunger and coldness had made our job even more difficult," said Mr Chan.

"However, we had never thought of giving up because saving lives, human or otherwise, is our duty."

Mr Chik explained: "Unlike holding a fish, we could feel the whale's warmth and heartbeat when we held its body. We felt so close to the whale that we were inspired to do our very best for it. "Although we understand that not every rescue attempt has a happy ending," he said, "we are very sad that it died so soon after getting back to sea."

Mr Chan added: "The incident reminds us of the sad fact that human beings and animals are sometime helpless in the struggle against nature. However, that does not mean that we should sit back and do nothing. Instead, we should always do our utmost in every rescue because if we never try, we will never win the battle!"