Animals Gone Wild: 52 Whales Wash Ashore in East Java Province’s Madura Island
Officials from the Nature Conservation Agency [BKSDA] branch in the Indonesian province of East Java is currently investigating the beaching of 52 pilot whales which washed ashore on the province’s Madura Island.
“This beaching is extremely rare. Usually there are about five whales who washed ashore,” said East Java BKSDA head RM. Wiwied Widodo on Friday, February 19. “But a pod of dozens [of beached whales] is something new. That is why we are investigating this incident.”
Wiwied believed that the cause might originate from the sonar that the whales used for navigation. “The causes might vary from earthquakes or underwater tectonic shifts that played havoc with their sonar, or perhaps they are hungry.”
The whales washed up on Madura’s Bangkalan district on Thursday. 49 out of 52 pilot whales were found dead by fishermen, while volunteers managed to guide three of the aquatic mammals into the open ocean.
Source:
Dapatkan update berita pilihan dan breaking news setiap hari dari Kompas.com. Mari bergabung di Grup Telegram "Kompas.com News Update", caranya klik link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, kemudian join. Anda harus install aplikasi Telegram terlebih dulu di ponsel.