Lagos residents go gaga over dead whale
The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived on earth. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and upwards of 200 tons (181 metric tons). Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their heart is as large as a car. […]
The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived on earth. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and upwards of 200 tons (181 metric tons). Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their heart is as large as a car. Whales collectively inhabit all the world’s oceans and are in millions.
But this awe inspiring creature, rather than attract some viewing delight and probably for curious studies from researchers, was hacked for meal by Lagosians. without a thought about any likely harm the carcass could cause them.
No one could tell how long the whale has been dead or what may have killed it. That didn’t matter to the butchers anyway. What mattered was that free meat had arrived, perhaps delivered by God as manna from above. “It was indeed shocking to see people butchering the fish that was already emitting a foul odour, apparently from rot,” said Pastor Segun Adegoke.
Pastor Adegoke has been living on the Marwa Beach for the past 14 months where his church, The Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, Marwa beach, is located some 50 yards from where the whale was washed ashore.
“I was the first to notice it coming on the high sea at about 6:30 pm,” he said. “The day wasn’t dark. I alerted my fellow worshippers. We didn’t know what it was. It looked like a huge ship or some huge building. It was not until it came close that we discovered it was a whale. It had odour. The odour was too strong. We couldn’t stand it. The fish was dead for God’s knows when.”
He reckons the whale came from overseas. “If you go down the sea, it parts into two routes. One route leads to Europe and the other to Port Harcourt. It came from the international route of the sea.” He said before long, the beach became busy with people who came to view it.
But the whale was only to survive intact that evening. The following morning, it was a different fate for the fish. “They came in with machetes and knives and hacked down the creature, ripping off its dorsal fin. They also chopped off parts of its body. For four days they were feasting on it. Nobody came to stop them.”
He said “we on the beach didn’t eat from it but others ate. For about four days, the air was fouled. They kept cutting it in spite of the odour. People came from far and near to hack the whale. Some came from Mushin, Oshodi, Kolinton, even Ibadan and several places when they heard the news. They took portions of it home.”
Through a guided tour of the scene, he showed our correspondent some huge bones from the fin of the whale – the meat had been fleeced. Even the fats haven’t completely melted at the point where the butchering took place. He said there was no complaint of the spread of any disease or ailment from those who ate the meat of the whale. “Since some people ate the meat, I haven’t heard anything that happened to them. A member of my church told me that her neighbour cooked the whale’s meat. She said it took over an hour for the meat to cook. I fear Nigerians o!”
This latest incident will make it the third time dead whales would be washed on the beach of Lagos. On the two previous occasions, the dead whales were quickly hacked for meat by residents.
Meet the whale eaters
Ezekiel Bulus, a.k.a Pilot, 22, told our correspondent: “We cooked it. I wasn’t afraid to eat it. I and my friends ate it. Nothing has happened to us and nothing will happen to us.” He dismissed any notion of long term consequences of eating the dead whale.
Bulus said: “We also did Suya (kebab) with it. Even a Nigerian Navy man from Bonny Camp, joined us in the feast.”
He admitted though that the whale had an odour. “Indeed the whale had an offensive odour from a distance but the meat itself didn’t smell when you get close. The odour came from the skin but it didn’t affect the meat.”
His friends who partook in the feast also gave accounts of how they ate the meat. Usman Garki Babajiga a.k.a Geography produced a picture that was taken of him while he was hacking the whale. He also showed our correspondent what he claimed was some smoked skin and meat of the whale.
“The fish arrived at night,” he said. “We were there to see it. We were perplexed. I said I must eat that whale to know how the whale tastes. So, the following morning, I went with my friends to cut the meat. We ate from it and nothing has happened to us, no stomach ache, nothing. A lot of people came to cut it too. In fact, I have the skin for those who want to see. I will take it home, it could be medicinal. I also have the dried meat for evidence.”
He explained: “the meat was full of fat just like pork meat. But some other parts were red meat, like beef. We ate the meat for about ten days. It did taste good. We couldn’t cut from the body because it was stiff and strong. We had to hack the fin only. Even the fin alone was mighty. Just a few portions from the body were cut but we couldn’t get deep into it.”
Sunday Joshua, 20, who lives around Marwa bus stop said: “I didn’t eat from the meat because when I was in JSS 3, I heard about a similar fish that was washed ashore by water and people went to take from it. I did hear at the time that the fish went with some of them while they were trying to cut it, so I was afraid. I wasn’t in Lagos then, I just heard the story. But the whale was at the Marwa beach for four days, it then moved to Oniru beach. How it went to Oniru beach, no one knows.” Joshua said touts at Oniru were collecting N100 before granting a pass to people who wanted to see the fish.
Residents around the Oniru beach said beach users found the odour from the fish offensive over the few days it was there before the ocean waves washed it away to Marwa beach. Segun Oke, one of the Area Boys (tout) said: “the odour was really offensive. It really troubled the beach users and nearby estate residents. The whale was there for a few days and went back into the water all by itself. No one picked it. We just woke up one morning and we didn’t find the fish.”
Why would people eat a dead fish?
But why will anybody feed on a dead animal? Psychologist, Tina Nwonobi provides an explanation. She says it is largely poverty and illiteracy. “When people are deprived and they lack the basics of life, they become desperate and can do anything to survive,” she explains. “You would agree that not many Nigerians can afford to buy meat. It was a perfect opportunity to take free meat. Don’t forget, in Nigeria, a lot of people eat dead animals even when they don’t know what killed the animal. So, it’s not new.”
Any health consequences?
Dr. Olarewaju Ekujimi, the National President, Association of Residents Doctors said there is bound to be health consequences, if not immediately, certainly in the long term. The fact that nothing happened to those who ate it now is no guarantee that something will not happen to them in future.
He said: “In these times, the seas are polluted with various toxic chemicals and some of the sea animals like whales may have large dose of mercury, or other harmful substances which can be harmful to man. That explains why, in other societies, they are advocating the non consumption of certain sea foods.
“I just wonder why people will consume the meat when they don’t know what killed it. Even the various government authorities are not doing anything to educate people about the dangers of such bad behavior. This also explains why certain diseases have found their way into Nigeria; diseases that were alien to us.”
Dr. Lawrence Daudu, a medical practitioner in Akure, also said eating the dead meat of the whale could be harmful.
He said: “It is not healthy at all. It is unusual for a whale to die like that; perhaps it had consumed poison in the high sea. This is because ships carry certain chemicals and some may fall off the ship into the water and empty the chemicals polluting the sea. It’s difficult to say the disease they may contact for now since no one knows what killed it.”
The management of the Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research couldn’t be reached for comments as at press time as the officers our correspondent met wouldn’t comment on the matter. The Etiosa Local Government chairman couldn’t also be reached for comments as she wasn’t on seat when our correspondent called at her office. No one was willing to volunteer information on her behalf. Meanwhile, the habit of eating dead fishes washed ashore from the ocean to the beaches of Lagos still continues, notwithstanding the health implications raised by medical practitioners concerning such consumption habits.