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illagers at Liae Beach, Sabu Raijua regency, East Nusa Tenggara, have taken the meat and fat of short-finned pilot whales that beached themselves and died recently.

Initially, 33 pilot whales were found dead on Monday, while 13 others survived and were returned to the open sea, Sabu Raijua Regent Marthen Dira Tome said on Wednesday. However, the whales became stranded again on Tuesday and were later found lifeless.

“Villagers immediately took their meat for family consumption and their fat, which will be used to make traditional ointment to cure wounds as well as for lighting,” said Marthen.

He added that hundreds of villagers living around the location scrambled to take the meat and fat despite being prohibited from doing so by security personnel.

“I have assigned some staffers from the Fisheries Office to research and analyze why the whales became beached,” added Marthen.

Some quarters presume the whales became stranded due to a change in seawater temperature as a result of climate change, which disrupted their sonar system and caused them to become disoriented.

West Timor Care Foundation director Ferdi Tanoni believed the pilot whales experienced chemical poisoning originating from the Montara oil well.

“We have warned about the hazards that will arise due to pollution of the Timor Sea. The death of the 44 pilot whales is proof. We will immediately take samples of their meat and internal organs and analyze them in the lab,” Tanoni said in Kupang.

The beached whales were between 2 and 5 meters long.