‘Food from the gods’: Bayelsa residents feast on whale swept onshore

In what was termed ‘food from the gods’, it was a feast of some sort yesterday at a seaside Bayelsa community in Okpoma, Brass Local Government Area, as residents scrambled and butchered a giant fish suspected to be a whale that washed ashore on the beach area of the Atlantic Ocean.

It was gathered that the stranded fish was grounded on Tuesday night due to a low sea wave at the river bank.

Residents met the stranded whale on Wednesday morning and trooped out with machetes, hawk shaws and axes to butcher the fish, which appeared dead. The whale measured about 15 meters long, five meters wide and three meters high

Hundreds of youths in the area and neighbouring communities of Twon-Brass, Odioma, Fish town and Sangana were seen with implements and different containers to butcher the sea mammal.

Some community chiefs and elders look on from the shore, expressing delight that it was food from the gods of the land who had seen their present suffering, especially with soaring prices of meat and other food items.

A former Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who hails from.the community, Tarinyo Akono, said the whale may have died after it got stranded due to low wave.

He stated that animal was grounded since in the night when people had gone to sleep, adding that if it were found alive, maybe it could have been rescued and send back to the sea.

Also, the Youth President of Okpoama community, Engr. Seiyefa Felix, who confirmed the incident, said people are at the waterside butchering the animal.

He said that the high tide of the river due to the rainy season might have brought the animal to the river bank before it died there.

Recalled that in August 2019, a similar giant whale got stranded at the waterside around the samme vicinity and was also butchered by the residents for meat for about three days

Also speaking, Ebony Ipalmote, said said there was an excavator working around the place about 200 meters away but the boys guiding the place did not see the Whale there before they close at about 10pm on Tuesday, meaning that it was swept there by the wave between 12 and 3am Wednesday morning.

He said “The whale is a small one, the town is agog, some boys gathered there, butchered the mammal and have taken the head

because it is the most important part of the body.

“The whale has a bad odour on its own and for the next three to four days, the whole town will be smelling and it will be so strong but who cares, people are doing thanksgiving right now.

Another indigene of the community, Promise Adaks, who confirmed the incident said the people are thanking God for the provision of the big whake.

He said, ‘Do you know that if one can get a chunk as big as a cow head which is about N65,000 in the market now, that will feed him and his family for a week.

“For the next one or two weeks from now, the people will no longer buy meat because there will be meat for them. It’s a gift from heaven in the Tinubu’s hard economy.