THE body of a baby was found floating among a clump of mangrove trees along the Nasese seawall at around midday yesterday.
The police confirmed the female baby was found by women on their way to fish out at sea.
The pair first saw the baby's legs and mistook it as those of a doll but upon further inspection discovered it belonged to a human being.
The Fiji Times arrived at the scene just as the police were cordoning off the scene and observed police officers and Lemeki Lenoa of the Volunteer First Responders placing the baby into a body bag.
Volunteer First Responders is a community-based emergency response group that assists the police and medical service providers in emergency situations.
Mr Lenoa said: "The information was relayed to us by members of the public. I've been around accidents and dead bodies before but this was a traumatic experience for me. It's not something you get over easily."
A mother who was among those at the scene said she believed the body to be that of fully-developed baby judging from its physique.
"If you see the umbilical cord and the placenta, the mother of the child gave birth to it recently. The body is not that bloated as well so it would have been dumped either late last night or sometime today," she added.
Police spokesman Inspector Atunaisa Sokomuri said medical authorities were warned to look out for cases of women seeking medical assistance for post-birth conditions.
"We are now conducting investigations and the body is now at Colonial War memorial Hospital awaiting a post-mortem examination," he said.