This massive whale has been discovered lying on the ground in an Indonesian mangrove forest.
The body of the huge marine mammal apparently washed into the mangrove swamp near Tasilo village which is in the Rote Ndao Regency in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia.
It was spotted by fishermen who then raised the alarm to say that the body of the 9.2-metre (30-foot) long whale that appeared to have died from extensive injuries was lying in the swamp.
Spokesperson for the government’s BKKPN water conservation team Ikram Sangadji said: “We sent a team, soon we were told the location to recover the body and bury it to prevent the water table being contaminated.”
He said no cause of death has yet been established and a short while later he confirmed that after digging a huge hole in the ground the whale’s carcass had been buried.
He also warned that residents should not touch the body or attempt to eat any of the whale meat.
Indonesia has around 3 million hectares of mangrove forest that grow along the coastline which flood during high tides and are filled with mud when the water flows away during low tide.
But like forests worldwide they are under threat, and in the last 30 years 40 percent of the country’s mangroves have disappeared.
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Story By: Michael Leidig , Sub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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