A conservation official reported Sunday that a 17-meter-long (56-foot-long) sperm whale died after washing up on a shore in Bali. Making it the third whale to beach itself on the Indonesian island in less than a week.
The male sperm whale was found stranded Saturday afternoon on the Yeh Leh coastline in Jembrana, west Bali.
Permana Yudiarso, a local marine and fisheries official, told AFP on Sunday, “We are currently attempting to pull the carcass to shore to make the necropsy test easier, and we will bury it once the necropsy is complete.
This is the third cetacean to beach itself in the popular tourist destination of Bali in April alone.
Wednesday, an 18-meter-long male sperm whale washed up on the eastern coast of Bali’s Klungkung district.
Before that, on April 1, the corpse of a Bryde’s whale weight more than two tonnes and measuring at least 11 meters was discovered on a beach in Tabanan; it had already decomposed.
Yudiarso told AFP that their initial hypothesis is that the sperm whale discovered on Saturday died of illness. “Just like the whale discovered stranded a few days ago.”
“The body appeared thin and ill,” he said.
Yudiarso expected a three-week necropsy, but forensic doctors found bleeding in the whale’s lungs and a fluid-filled colon.
Also the location has been cordoned off by the police to prevent individuals from stealing the animal’s flesh.
A dead sperm whale was discovered in Indonesia in 2018 with more than 100 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach. Raising concerns about Southeast Asia’s enormous marine debris problem.
After China, Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to marine debris worldwide.
