Sperm Whale Washed Ashore in Ternate, Residents Scramble for Teeth

A sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) measuring 9.89 meters in length and 3.36 meters in body diameter washed ashore on Afe Taduma Beach, Ternate Island, North Maluku, on Monday, September 8, 2026. The location was approximately 750 meters from residential areas. Local women, who were among the first to descend to the beach around 06:00 WITA, discovered the carcass. News of the stranding spread rapidly, drawing a crowd of residents. Yeni Mas’ud, a Ternate resident, captured the moment with her mobile phone and uploaded it to social media. Other residents were seen scrambling to collect the teeth of the unfortunate animal for use as accessories. Nuncar Umagapi, the head of Afe Taduma village, stated that news of a stranded whale had actually been received the day before. "On Sunday afternoon, some residents saw a whale carcass floating and just waiting to be washed ashore," he told Mongabay. Upon its arrival on the beach, residents promptly reported the incident to the village office, which then relayed the information to the Ternate City Marine and Fisheries Service (DKP) and the Environmental Agency (DLH). Around 09:00 on Monday, September 8, 2026, Riza Marsaoly, the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Ternate, led a delegation to the site. Rizal then ordered his staff to bury the whale carcass. "The objective is to prevent any odor from disturbing the community." Around 14:30, an excavator arrived at the location to assist in burying the whale's body. However, prior to the burial, officials from the Kupang Marine Management Center, an UPT of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) with a working area covering Papua, Maluku, and North Maluku, conducted a physiological examination. The officials also collected biological data such as body length, sex, and estimated age. The results of this examination revealed that... This article was originally published on Mongabay