Samoa man killed by sharks on Father’s Day

Apia, SAMOA — A Savai’i man was killed by sharks on Sunday, August 13, which was Father’s Day in the Independent State.

The Samoa Observer is reporting that Amoni Malaeulu from the village of Lano in Savai'i was attacked by sharks, while trying to drag the body of a dead Cuvier's beaked whale back into the ocean.

The dead beached whale was discovered by the villagers of Asaga in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Videos and photographs of the rare whale species went viral on social media on Saturday, with some claiming they had informed local authorities to see what can be done to the mammal stranded in Asaga.

However, according to the residents from Lano, the dead whale ended up in Lano on Sunday.

"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," a villager who wished to stay anonymous told The Observer.

A family member of the deceased, Maze Malaeulu in an interview with The Observer confirmed that the unfortunate incident happened on Sunday evening.

Maze is Amoni's younger brother who explained that the tragedy has left their family devastated and with so many questions.

"We are still in shock and it's hard to believe that he is no longer with us."

Recalling the events of Sunday evening, Mr. Malaeulu said he was at work when he received a call from his sister about what happened.

"So we rushed there and when we got there, my brother's body was being carried by my older brother and other relatives to the car.

"We got to the hospital and were told that he was already gone and that it was already too late to do anything to save his life.

"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.

"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 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."

"It's so hard to believe that he is gone. I feel for my parents, his wife and his beloved children whom he loved and adored. His children are still very young and I feel sorry for them, they are really affected by what happened."

On Monday morning, the untitled men from the village of Lano in Savai'i discovered that the dead mammal was on the beach again.

They informed the elders of the village who ordered the men to burn the dead mammal.

The police outpost in Tuasivi confirmed to The Observer that they were informed of the unfortunate incident on Sunday evening by the hospital in Tuasivi and are currently investigating the incident.

However, the officials in Savai'i said they would provide details of their investigations to the main office in Apia and the Police Commissioner would be provided with the updates of their investigation soon.