The whale died without any wounds on the shore.
Denpasar, Indonesia:
Conservation officials said Indonesian animal experts were preparing to perform an autopsy on Thursday on an 18-metre (59-foot) whale that died after washing up on a beach in Bali.
The sperm whale, believed to weigh several tonnes, beached east of Holiday Island on Wednesday before local residents and authorities pushed it back into the sea.
Local marine and fisheries official Permana Yudiarso told AFP that hours after swimming it got stranded again on a different beach and died on shore without any injuries.
“We are still investigating the cause of death. We want a scientific explanation whether it was due to pollution or plastic,” he said.
Sperm whales, the world’s largest predators, are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being “vulnerable” to extinction.
Veterinary and forensic experts have reached the spot to investigate the cause of the whale’s death and its carcass will be buried in the coming days.
“Today we will do the autopsy and then get an excavator nearby to bury the body,” Yudiarso said.
Police cordon off a beach in Bali’s Klungkung Regency to prevent theft of whale meat or body parts.
Yudiarso said whales usually come close to shore when they are sick or dead.
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 Southeast Asian archipelago’s vast marine litter problem.
Indonesia is the world’s second largest contributor to marine debris after China.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)