A dwarf sperm whale was discovered deceased on the shore at Vunito goloa Village in Ra on Thursday morning. This species is the smallest in the whale family and is even smaller than many dolphins.
The villagers who stumbled upon the dead whale reported that it appeared to be injured. Village headman Josefa Manakiwai noted that the mammal measured approximately 3.6 meters in length. “We came back from fishing early this morning and found it on our shore. I believe it has been dead since last night or early this morning,” he stated.
Manakiwai speculated that the whale might have been bitten by a large shark while in the open sea, as marks were visible on its body. He emphasized that whales rarely strand themselves on their shores unless they are injured at sea. “This is the second time this has happened; the first was in 1993 when an injured dead whale washed ashore,” he recalled.
Rusiate Waqata, the service center manager with the Ministry of Fisheries in Rakiraki, confirmed that the mammal was indeed a dwarf sperm whale. “It must have been bitten and ended up stranded here,” he added.