Tuesday, March 3, 2009

wouldn't this have been something to see

Whale washed up in WNB
A WHALE carcass measuring between 25m and 30m long and five to 10m wide was washed onto a reef near two islands in West New Britain recently.
The carcass started to rot a few days after it got trapped on the reef but its removal proved difficult.
Fearing the carcass would cause environmental damages and bring diseases that would affect the islanders, the WNB provincial disaster officer and other relevant authorities burnt half of its body, using old tyres.
The rest of the whale’s body was washed away by strong current.
Provincial disaster office director Lieutenant Colonel Peter Baki said the whale carcass got stuck on a reef area between Vulai and Kimbe Islands in the Kimbe Bay area.
He said they were alerted about the whale by the islanders.
Mr Baki said they came up with a plan to reduce the weight of the whale so they could tow it out to deep sea.
The carcass was burnt and after a while the high tide came in and moved it out to sea.
Mr Baki said he had never seen anything as big as the whale.
It was the first time a whale was found dead in the Kimbe bay area.

~ funny, as my husband noted, that they were worried about the environmental damages yet burned the whale using old tires. yep. I LOVE Papua!

3 comments:

Alison said...

That is so funny...I thought the same thing while reading! :)

Terry said...

Oh my gosh the tire thing is just priceless ! I needed a good laugh out loud moment today.
I am sorry for the laughing ,I'm sure there must have been good intentions involved as with many undertakings they often get lost along the way.

mauswara said...

Good article for inclusion as a link in the next PNG Gossip Newsletter due out on the 6th of March.