Jakarta (EFE).- The Indonesian authorities removed this Thursday a huge sperm whale about 18 meters long that perished after being stranded on a beach on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The animal was trapped on a beach in Klungkung Regency, in the southeast of the tourist island, on Wednesday, but with the help of emergency teams and volunteers it was initially returned to the sea, the regional disaster management agency said. .
However, the cetacean ran aground again soon after and eventually perished.
This Thursday the authorities, aided by heavy machinery, dragged the sperm whale inland to proceed with the necropsy with which to try to determine the cause of death.
According to preliminary information, the animal could have been stranded “due to weather, fatigue or the blow of large waves,” the Bali Natural Resources Conservation Agency said the day before.
Sperm whales, the world’s largest predators, are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “vulnerable” to extinction.
In 2018, a sperm whale was found dead in Indonesia with more than 100 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach, raising concerns about the huge marine litter problem in this country, the world’s second-biggest contributor of marine debris after from China.
