Massive sperm whale beaches itself, dies in Bali

Indonesian animal experts were preparing Thursday to conduct an autopsy on an 18-meter whale that died after washing up on a beach in Bali. The sperm whale, believed to weigh many tonnes, beached itself in the east of the holiday island on Wednesday before locals and officials pushed it back out to sea.

But after swimming away it became stranded again just hours later on a different beach and died on the shore with no visible wounds. Sperm whales, the world’s largest predators are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being vulnerable to extinction. Vets and forensic experts have arrived at the scene to investigate the cause of the whales’ death, and its carcass will be buried in the coming days.