Mass whale stranding in Indonesia

2026, March 10. Indonesia, Rote Island coast in East Nusa Tenggara province. At least 21 of the 55 pilot whales that stranded have died. The whales were found on Monday night at Mbadokai Beach in southwestern Rote Ndao. Some were rescued and guided back to deeper waters, but many died after becoming too weak. Rescue teams from the Kupang National Marine Conservation Center are working to move the remaining whales to safer waters. The cause of the stranding remains unclear, and veterinarians are conducting necropsies as part of the investigation. The smallest whale had a body length of about 2.4 meters, while the largest reached 5.1 meters. At the beginning of the incident, five whales were found dead. However, the number of dead whales continued to increase to 11 and eventually reached 21.