Residents call for help for whale

Residents call for help for whale

MANOKWARI, Irian Jaya: Residents have called on both domestic and foreign experts to come to the rescue of a whale which has been stranded on Arfai beach since Jan. 5, Antara reported yesterday.

"Unless there's help soon, the whale will die," one resident said.

Yopi Muskitta, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature's local office, said so far there is no clear explanation as to why the whale was stranded. He suspected that it was hunting for food too close to the shallow waters.

The whale is from the protected family Balaenopteridae whose members are reportedly able to survive without feeding for up to two months.

The whale is reportedly getting weaker because it has not been able to feed or free itself. Up to yesterday, efforts by local agencies have not succeeded in freeing the whale because it is surrounded by coral reefs.

M. Situmorang, of the nature conservation office said on Saturday that the whale was already distressed and has not had enough to feed on since low tides stranded it on the beach. The mammal is 20 meters in length and three meters high. (swe)