Jakarta, IO – A whale weighing 7 tons and 6.8 meters long was found stranded and dead on a beach in Laju village, Langgudu district, Bima regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Wednesday (10/5).
The humpback whale was first spotted by a fisherman around 7.30 am WITA, reported Kompas, Thursday (11/5).
Muhammad Fadli, head of NTB Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said his team immediately coordinated with local residents after the finding.
He revealed that the whale probably died a few days ago in the middle of the ocean and was trapped in fishing nets and stranded on the beach. Fadli said the death of the sea mammal was not known because its carcass has decomposed when it was found.
Although the cause of death has yet to be determined, Laju village chief said there were a number of wounds on the body of the stranded whale. Even so, he could not say for sure whether it was from a spear or rock.
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The whale was pulled from the beach to be buried in a mangrove forest away from residential areas. “Yesterday we wanted to cut it up to make it easier to bury it, but the plan was abandoned,” said Ismail. (un)