Ten dead whales recovered on Indonesian beach, one saved by locals

This handout picture taken and released on July 30, 2020 by Indonesian nature conservation agency shows villagers looking at a dead whale at Lie Jaka beach in Sabu Raijua, East Nusa Tenggara. - AFP

JAKARTA (Xinhua): Ten whales were found dead on a beach in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Thursday (July 30), while another was saved by locals, according to an official.

The mammals called short-finned pilot whales with the length ranging from two to seven metres were discovered on the Lie Jaka beach of Sabu Raijua district on Thursday morning, said Ikram Sangadji, head of the Water Conservation Agency in the provincial capital of Kupang.

On the cause of the incident, the official said that the whales followed the movement of the currents carrying planktons into the coastal areas.

"But when the sea waters subsided, the whales found it difficult to return to the deep sea. In addition, they were wounded by the sharp corals," he said.

Local media reported that residents helped to dig pits to bury the dead whales.

Last week, a 23-metre blue whale beached near a coast in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Whales are often washed onto the coasts in Indonesia, a vast-archipelagic nation, and many of them are rescued by local residents and officials, who push them back to sea