Fishermen in barangay Masaplod Sur in Dauin investigating a reported sighting of a floating human body wrapped in fabric discovered the biggest floating organic mass they had ever seen.
With neither a head nor a tail in sight because it was largely submerged in deep seawaters, they believed they found a giant squid.
Alerted by social media, people rushed from as far as Dumaguete, some 20 kilometers away, to catch a glimpse of this huge creature.
However, as more scientists and scuba divers arrived, it was determined that the animal was not a squid but, rather, a sperm whale.
Arlene Corsame, municipal agriculture officer of Dauin, said local officials were informed of the discovery around 7 a.m. and immediately asked the help of the Silliman University Marine Laboratory in Dumaguete City for assistance.
Police officers also immediately proceeded to the area to investigate the incident as well as representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources.
Roland Tuble, president of the Masaplod Norte Fishermen’s Association and a Bantay Dagat member, recounted that they received reports of a sighting off the coast of Dauin proper of what they thought was a human body wrapped in fabric around 5 a.m.
A pumpboat towed the carcass, believed to weigh about 2,000 kilos to shore while waiting for authorities to decide on how to dispose of it, said Tuble.
Tuble said he was in the ocean swimming next to the carcass and found that part of it was already submerged underwater with bits and pieces of fleshes being torn off by the waves.
Local officials, fishermen and Dauin residents who flocked to the beach to get a glimpse of it said it was the first time ever for them to see such kind of animal.
By early afternoon, Mayor Neil Credo of Dauin ordered the transfer of the carcass to another part of the beach with road access so it can be chopped down into pieces and buried at the local cemetery to avoid contamination of the sea waters.
Around 3 p.m., marine biologist Jean Utzurrum of the Silliman University marine laboratory and Dr. Alessandro Ponzo of the Large Marine Vertebrae Project in the Philippines arrived to take measurements of the sperm whale, collect specimen samples for research, and help in the disposition of the carcass.
Dr. Ponzo confirmed that the marine mammal was, indeed, a sperm whale — the largest toothed whale — of the sub-order Odonteceti.
“It is easy to recognize because of only one blow hole on the left side of the head,” said Dr. Ponzo, who with Utzurrum and the SU Marine Laboratory are scheduled to do a necropsy of the marine mammal.
Its current conservation status is being assessed and the total number of sperm whales in the world is unknown.
According to Dr. Ponzo, the sperm whale found off Dauin could have been dead for days or a week, judging from its state of decomposition.
Initially, the marine biologists could not determine the cause of its death even as they took specimen samples for BFAR to send to MFRDI for their genetic project and for the SU marine laboratory for their marine mammal project, which he said is one of the best in the country.
As to the cause of its death, Dr. Ponzo said it is too difficult to determine because the carcass is very rotten, although initial assessment showed some bones in the head were broken.
But it could be potentially trauma due to being hit by a ship due to increased traffic in the Bohol Sea and Tañon Strait, a cause of concern for the welfare of these marine animals, he said.
“We will have to wait for one year after we collect the bones” for research and information on its death, Dr. Ponzo added.
The marine biologist also could not give an estimate of how big the dead sperm whale was because the carcass recovered on Wednesday was just part of the head.
The other half of the body and tail could have probably been lost at sea, he explained.
Just the lower jaw measured about two to three meters, Ponzo said.
A necropsy was scheduled to be done at the Marine Laboratory; however, because of the rotten condition of the marine mammal, the best they can do is to perform a genetic analysis, he added.
It was also hard for the marine biologists to determine whether the dead sperm whale was male or female.
Dr. Ponzo said judging from the measurements of the head alone of about four to five meters, he believes the length of the sperm whale was between 12 to 15 meters, considering that the head alone is about a third of the entire span of the marine mammal.
The stranding of the sperm whale is “quite rare” as the occurrence is reported at least four or five times in the Bohol Sea alone in 10 years, said Dr. Ponzo.
By sundown, half of the sperm whale remained at the beach while waiting for help from the provincial government with a larger truck and crane to pull it out of the sea. (PNA)
