Indonesia: Whale washes ashore in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara

The Jakarta Post 1 Aug 18;

A whale has been found washed ashore on Liwung Pireng Beach in Kolidetung village, Lela district, Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

District head Lela Rikardus Pieterson said the whale was already dead when it washed ashore. "When the local residents found it on Saturday, the whale was dead and was decomposing," he told kompas.com on Wednesday. "It might have been dead for a week."

According to Rikardus, the whale might have been brought ashore by big waves on Monday, July 23.

As the carcass had already mostly decomposed, local residents took its bones home. However, they did not take its meat for consumption, tribunnews.com reported.

Program and Evaluation head of the Kupang National Marine Conservation Bureau, Imam Fauzi, said the bureau was still trying to identify the species of the whale. (stu)