The carcass of what appears to be a pilot whale was discovered on Penimbangan Beach in northern Bali’s Buleleng regency earlier today. The 2.3-meter long mammal was reportedly found covered in wounds.
Gede Iwan Setiabudi, a professor of marine fisheries at Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha), said that the whale might have been dead for two days, as reported by Tribun-Bali.
“Looking at his physical condition, we estimate that it might have been dead for two days. His wounds are round-shaped, so we suspect that it was bitten by another fish,” Iwan said.
He added that pilot whales live in tropical regions and that the waters near Buleleng happen to be one of their habitats.
The pilot whale, whose body reportedly weighs around 100 kg, was found at around 6am earlier today by local residents.
“It’s about 40 years old. We will proceed with a DNA sample, morphometry and then necropsy to find out the causes of its death,” I Ketut Catur Marbawa from the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in Bali, told Kumparan.
In March, the carcass of a dwarf sperm whale was discovered on Rangkan Beach in the east-coast village of Ketewel. The mammal had reportedly been stranded in the area for several days, despite efforts from local fishermen to push it into deeper water.
