Scientists express worry over consumption of beached, dead sea animals

On Wednesday, June 19, a video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) showing residents of Okpoama, a coastal community in Bayelsa State’s Brass Local Government Area, gathered around a whale carcass found on their shores.

In the video which was seen by our correspondent, no fewer than 25 people were armed with what looked like hacksaws, machetes, and axes with which they aggressively dismembered the mammal from various angles.

The crowd at the shore appeared to be in a frenzy. Many were gleefully touching the sea animal’s body, marvelling at how the gods of the land must have favoured them during a time when fish and meat prices in Nigerian markets have skyrocketed.

Dozens of onlookers at the shore watched with delight as individuals wielding sharpened blades repeatedly hacked at the mammal’s flesh, tearing it apart.

Other individuals were seen carrying large plastic buckets, cut-open plastic kegs, and raffia sacks, to haul away their share of the butchered whale straight to their kitchens or open grills.

In another video seen by our correspondent, two men sat atop the whale said to be 15 metres in length, five metres in width, and three metres in height, while their bare feet were lodged deeply in its ripped body being targeted for eventual consumption.

Sunday PUNCH learned that the people gathered around what they believed was “food from the gods of the land” and consisted of youths from neighbouring communities such as Twon-Brass, Fish Town, Odioma, and Sagbama.

A former chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists who hails from the community which links to the Atlantic Ocean, Tarinyo Akono, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the whale may have died after it was stranded due to a low wave, adding that if it were found alive, it would have been rescued and pushed back to the sea.

A resident of Okpoama, Ebony Ipalmote, stated that the youths guarding an excavator working about 200 metres from where the whale was found admitted they did not see the whale when they finished their shift at 10 pm on Tuesday.

Ipalmote pointed out that the whale must have been washed ashore between 12 am and 3 am on Wednesday, adding that a foul odour from the whale filled the area.

“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 would be so strong, but who cares, people are doing thanksgiving right now,” he told The Guardian.

An eyewitness from a neighbouring community who gave his name as Destiny, told Sunday PUNCH, “I went there to go see things for myself when the whale was found. Unlike four years ago when a live whale landed on that same shore, this particular whale to me feels like it’s a carcass because the smell emanating from it was too bad.”

Another resident of the community, Promise Adaks, said, “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 (President Bola) Tinubu’s hard economy.”

‘Manna’ from sea or Greek gifts?

According to reference works, a Greek gift refers to a gift given with what appears to have a benign intent but once accepted by a person has a sequence of problems inexorably tied with it.

As videos of the butchered whale went viral, some social media users believed that beached sea animals were indeed God’s or nature’s gifts to a hungry population, akin to the biblical story of miraculous food from heaven. However, others were sceptical, arguing that such dead animals were Greek gifts.

An X user, Be-True, wrote, “As long as it’s water you use to float come, you are for man’s consumption. That’s one less whale for sailors and divers to worry about. And I’m hearing it was found dead.”

Another X user, Eye of God, agrees, “Considering the situation in Nigeria, I think this is a kind of manna. The entire Nigeria is now a wilderness.”

Also adding his voice to the debate, Mitchel Graey, wrote on X, “This is not a flawed issue. Canada has more than enough food to go around. Many Nigerians would be thankful if they got to eat meat on Christmas.

“If we go to the sea to catch fish, a massive fish washing ashore is practically a miracle. There’s absolutely nothing wrong here.”

A Facebook user, Gbolahan Ayankola wrote, “For (the) people of Bayelsa to survive with their water pollution, then they can survive eating the whale.”

Conversely, several social media users raised concerns about the potential public health risks associated with consuming beached animals.

An X user, Rossflower, wrote, “This Ijaw people will eat contaminated seafood because of hunger. It’s a gradual process and they have to be careful. These animals that are washed shore are either contaminated and sick as a result of sea pollution.”

“That’s a very dangerous meat. Full of toxins, microorganisms, and ingested heavy metals,” another X user named Araba Kpura noted.

Also commenting, David Agu wrote, “That whale must have died days ago for it to be washed offshore. They are eating harmful, contaminated food.”

On Instagram, an entrepreneur, Kingsley Kobayashi, wrote, “Whale meat is eaten in Japan often, as a reminder of the tough times they had after the war, where whale meat was the only meat they had available.

“However, I would be very worried if the whale was already dead; all sorts of bacteria can be in it.”

Despite the rising demand for sea animals such as whales, dolphins, seals, and sea turtles – referred to by scientists as “aquatic bushmeat” – there are growing concerns that consuming these meats after the animals wash up dead may pose a potential public health hazard.

At a press briefing held on June 20, the Bayelsa State government, through the Permanent Secretary of its Ministry of Health, Dr Toyin Azebi, cautioned citizens against eating the dead whale found at Okpoama.

The state government said consuming it could lead to “mercury poisoning, botulism, and bacterial infection that might prove dangerous to the health of the people.”

According to the Humane Society, a health journal, environmental contaminants such as pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl tend to accumulate in the bodies of sea animals such as whales.

Unborn babies who are exposed to methyl mercury in seafood such as whale meat risk developing cognitive deficiencies such as delays in all areas of development, according to the journal.

Beached creatures, hungry stomachs

Findings by our correspondent revealed that this is not the first time people have descended on beached sea animals, with their flesh and bones ultimately ending up in domestic pots and grills as gastronomic delicacies.

For instance, in September 2022, many residents of the Foropoh community in the Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State chopped up and consumed a dead whale that had been washed ashore from the Atlantic Ocean.

On April 23, 2020, indigenes of the Finima community in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, came out with knives and machetes and butchered a dead whale on the beach for consumption.

In July 2019, a whale that was swept to the shores of a beach in the Okpoama and Onyekia communities was also butchered and consumed by indigenes.

At the time, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, Mr Sheriff Olagunju, told The PUNCH, “It is dangerous eating an animal whose cause of death is not known. It could have been killed by chemical poisoning, contamination, or anything. It could also contain a lot of contaminants.”

On September 16, 2016, residents of Okpo Ita in Ibeno LGA of Akwa Ibom State, dismembered a dead whale that they found lying ashore that morning.

On February 13, 2017, photos emerged of residents of Brass LGA sharing the meat of two dolphins they found ashore and had butchered.

In 2014, a dead humpback whale was found on the shores of Eleko Lagos Beach and was dismembered and shared by residents despite the putrid smell reportedly emanating from it.

Similarly, in August 2013, a dead whale that hit the shore of Alpha Beach in Lagos in the aftermath of an ocean surge was butchered by residents.

Scientists urge caution

Citing an observation made by National Geographic in 2019, a senior lecturer in the Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr Kolawole Banwo, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, described the consumption of dead beached sea animals as a menace that has been an age-long activity.

He noted, “This activity is considered a public health risk from a food safety point of view because the death of sea animals is largely unknown to consumers. Several factors could have led to the death of the animals such as the consumption of toxic algae, which are found in the oceans, these algal toxins can remain potent after the death of the animal and may cause severe illnesses or death in humans.

“Once the animal is dead and washed ashore, decomposition of the body and tissues commences. This can lead to the proliferation of bacteria and the production of harmful toxins such as enterotoxins.

“The death could be due to poisoning and environmental factors that may pose health risks to humans. Other factors could be the carriage of food-borne diseases such as brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, and botulism because sea animals carry diseases that may be transmissible to humans which are known as zoonoses.”

Banwo further explained that dead animals are at greater risk of disease transmission as disease-causing microorganisms proliferate faster after death and constitute food safety concerns and public health risks.

He added, “Sea animals can be exposed to harmful pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals, especially toxic mercury residues, due to anthropogenic activities of the surrounding environment where the sea is located.

“These activities are of major food safety concern because of bioaccumulation in the systems of humans and animals that consume such dead sea animals.

“It will be advisable that such dead beached sea animals are left to be handled and safely disposed of by aquatic public health specialists. The government should create awareness among the public on the risks of the consumption of these animals if found on our coast or shorelines.”

Also speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a public health consultant, Solomon Jolaoso, said eating dead animals such as whales and dolphins that have washed ashore has a lot of health risks both on an individual level and from a public health perspective.

He explained that these risks could come from a variety of contaminants and toxins that these marine mammals can harbour due to their prolonged exposure to polluted environments from industrial and human activities.

He stated, “On an individual basis, the consumption of these animals can expose a person to biological contaminants, biotoxins, and dangerous chemical pollutants. Biological contaminants include harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause severe gastrointestinal illnesses and infections. These microorganisms can proliferate in the decomposing flesh of dead animals, making it highly unsafe for human consumption.

“Biotoxins, such as those produced by harmful algal blooms, can accumulate in the tissues of marine mammals. These toxins are not destroyed by cooking and can lead to food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and even neurological effects. Biotoxins like domoic acid can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning, which affects the brain and can result in memory loss, seizures, and in severe cases, death.”

Explaining further, Jolaoso noted that the presence of very dangerous chemical pollutants in dead marine mammals is also a major concern and why sea animals are largely unfit for consumption.

He highlighted the presence of various pollutants such as heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium), pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants generated by human and industrial activities that often find their way into oceans and other water bodies.

“Marine animals like whales and dolphins, which are higher up on the food chain, accumulate these pollutants in their bodies over time through a process known as biomagnification.

“Biomagnification leads to the concentration of pollutants at higher levels in the food chain. When humans consume the meat of these contaminated animals, they ingest high levels of these toxins. Heavy metals, for example, cause a range of health problems. Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, can damage the central nervous system, leading to neurological disorders such as tremors, memory loss, and cognitive deficits. Lead exposure can also result in anemia, weakness, kidney, and brain damage,” he added.

Jolaoso noted that from a public health point of view, the consumption of dead whales and dolphins can cause significant threats to communities and the general public.

He explained further, “There is a potential risk for outbreaks of foodborne diseases caused by biological contaminants. Also, chronic exposure to chemical pollutants can have long-term health implications for populations, increasing the burden on dilapidating healthcare systems

“The improper disposal of these animals’ remains can lead to environmental contamination, further exacerbating public health risks. The decaying remains of these animals can attract scavengers and pests that are vectors or biological reservoirs for diseases which can lead to an outbreak, which may also contaminate surface and groundwater.”