By Jungyun Choi Intern An amount of 10 million won is being offered for gray whales accidentally caught, and five million won for any pictures or videos taken of this endangered creature, for research activities, the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute has announced. The whale research center of the institute in Ulsan Monday deployed a 12-ton research vessel to the waters along the east coast of the Korean Peninsula for a four-day operation to check on the population of gray whales, otherwise known as the "ghost whale." ``This is part of efforts to conserve the species as outlined by the resolution adopted three times by the International Whaling Commission (IWC),'' an official said. There are only 121 Korean gray whales aged one year or older left in the seas, according to the 2007 report of the IWC science committee. However, four female gray whales have recently been killed accidentally trapped by fishing nets in the Northwest Pacific, and additional whales are feared to be netted during fishing, leading to possible extinction, the researcher said. The gray whale population grows at a slow pace of 3 percent, according to the IWC. Found only in the waters of the Northwestern Pacific, the species is reported to swim about the east coast of the peninsula during the winter months from November through February. Designated as a natural monument by the government in 1962, the Korean gray whale was rendered extinct in the 1970s, but was rediscovered in recent years, bringing about much international interest. The ghost whale is found to be a prominent character in ancient Korean rock art as seen on the Bangudae rock wall in western Ulsan as well as traditional folklore.