The huge crowds gathered on a beach in Bali after the 53 foot sperm whale washed up on the shore so they could perform a 'funeral' for it. The whale was found earlier this morning in Klungkung on the east of the Indonesian island by two local fisherman who had been catching lobster.
But when the news spread on social media that the dead whale's body was lying on the beach, huge crowds gathered to take pictures with some even seen climbing on the animal. This, according to them, was so that the whale won’t go hungry in the afterlife.
People were also seen approaching the whale and laying items on its back as part of an offering, with a Hindu priest also seen ankle deep in the water walking over to the animal.
Negah Sunatra, one of the fishermen who first spotted the whale told Sindo News: 'We usually look for lobsters on this beach. We were shocked with the whale. 'After we approached, it turned out to be dead.' Now police and the local authorities in Bali including the department for fisheries and marine affairs, the disaster management agency and a conservation body are forming a plan on how to remove the whale from the beach.
Bali's Natural Resource Conservation Body confirmed that the animal washed up was a Physter macrohepalus, also known as a sperm whale. They believe the whale was with its pod as it migrated to a different part of the ocean, when it became separated. They add they think it drifted off and then ended up stranded on the beach.
Beached whales often die due to dehydration or collapse under their own body weight. Sometimes they also drown when the high tide covers their blowhole.
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