The sperm whale that's stranded at the Tanjungpakis beach, north of Karawang, West Java, Indonesia, finally rescued and released to the ocean on Saturday 28 July 2012 at around 3pm Western Indonesia Time (8am GMT).

After having stranded on the beach for 4 nights, the infant sperm whale (estimated 4 years old) finally can be returned to the ocean by a joint rescue effort conducted by volunteers and government institutions. The rescue was coordinated by the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN). Joining the team were volunteers from SAR Sagara, Scuba Divers Indonesia, Divemag, Global Dive, Liquid Dive, Banyu Biru Explorers (us), Kopassus (Indonesian army elite force), Pelindo (harbor authority), KPLP (coast guard), and few other volunteers and institutions from various organizational background.

I was involved in the rescue effort and for me, it was really an amazing and touching experience. I will never forget that close encounter with the whale, the moment when I put my hands on the body and rubbing it with care and compassion. I even got the experience of being gently slapped by the tail fin when placing the rescue strap over the whale's tail :) (gentle for the whale but seriously hard for me hahaha...).

This is for now, complete story and photographs to follow.