Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (Antara NTT) - A whale has washed ashore on Oka Kea Beach, Nggodimeda Village, Central Rote Sub-district, Rote Ndao District, Rote Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, since Wednesday afternoon.
"The whale has been stranded since Wednesday at 4 p.m. local time on Oka Kea Beach," Ikram Sagadji, head of the Kupang National Coastal Area Conservation Center, stated here, Thursday.
Sagadji has sent a team to identify the species of whale and gauge its condition. When found by the local villagers, the whale was alive, weak, and motionless and had some eight wounds over its body.
Sagadji believed that the animal, measuring 4.4 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width, was a finned pilot whale.
The local villagers and NGO activists from "Camar Nggodimeda" turtle conservation group and Central Rote`s Manoholok as well as personnel of the water police attempted to save the whale by ensuring that its body was kept wet while awaiting the high tide, so it could be pushed back into the sea.
