The carcass of a gigantic whale has been found on a beach in Akwa Ibom State, south south of Nigeria, off the Atlantic Ocean, but it was already being eaten by the villagers before conservationists arrived.
Villagers in Okpo Ita, Ibeno local government area of the state, said they saw the dead whale in the morning of September 15, according to Edem Eniang, a biodiversity conservationist from the University of Uyo.
Some of the villagers had started cutting off the body parts for meat before Mr. Eniang and his team of researchers, and the local authorities got to the scene, several days after it was found.
Mr. Eniang said the carcass is about 16 metres in length.
“I observed that something close to four metres was missing,” Mr. Eniang told PREMIUM TIMES, Wednesday. “That is a part of what was cut off by the villagers.”
A handful of tourists have been attracted to the scene since the news broke out.
