A Samoan man trying to help his community was killed in a shark attack.
Locals from the village of Asaga spotted a dead Cuvier’s beaked whale on August 12, 2023. Many of the local took videos of the carcass before it floated onto the beaches of Lano in Savai’i the following day, which is fathers day in the islands.
“We don’t know if it was swept over to our shores by the currents or whether Asaga, the village right next to us, dragged it out to the ocean and it ended up here,” an anonymous villager told The Observer
Amoni Malaeulu from the village of Lano heard the complaints of the locals who were repulsed by the smell of the dead whale. Being a Samoan, Malaelulu decided to take the whale out to sea.
It is unknown why he did not use his canoe, instead he donned a mask, snorkel, and fins to swim the dead whale away from the coast.
Video from the scene shows many happy villagers watching Malaeulu as he swims next to the dead whale smiling and waving back to his friends.
Unfortunately, a short time later the father of five was attacked by a shark. Witness reported seeing blood and splashes as one or more sharks struck Malaeulu.
He was collected by canoe and taken to shore and then transported to the hospital.
“My older brother was the one who took out his canoe and saved my brother Amoni when people who were on the seawall saw that he was being attacked by sharks as he tried to drag the dead whale out to the ocean,” Maze Malaeulu, Amoni’s brother said.
“No one else wanted to go out there to save my brother when he was in trouble. It was only my older brother who paddled out and brought Moni’s body back to the shore.
“It was sad because he [Amoni] saved a lot of people from our village from drowning. He was a skilled fisherman and everyone in the village knew that he was an expert when it comes to fishing and swimming.
“However, this time around when he was in trouble he could not save himself and no one else was willing to save my poor brother.”
The following day, the whale washed back ashore and the elder of the village instructed several men to bury it.
The Location has been marked on the 2023 Shark Attack Map.
