Mumbai: Yet another marine animal was found washed ashore at Revdanda coast near Alibaug on Wednesday evening. The 40-feet long blue whale, which is rarely found in shallow waters, is being said to be injured before being washed ashore.
The mammal belongs to the Bryde whale family, which is found in tropical and temperate climate.
“On an average we can see two to three Bryde whales during the pre-monsoon showers,” said Nitin Walmiki, zoologist from Eco-Echo NGO. He added that the whales could be sighted frequently in shallow waters during the monsoons as the sea was very rough during this period.
The Bryde whale is endangered and is listed as data deficient (not enough is available on them) in the International Union for the Convention of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) list and is also included in the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Local fishermen in the area spotted the whale in the evening. “When it was found washed ashore it was still breathing, but eventually gave up,” said a fisherman in the area.
The locals even shot a video of kids dancing after climbing up on the body of the whale. The whale was lying in the open for 12 hours straight till the forest officials intervened to clear the body. The infrastructure used proved to be inefficient for carrying the body to another place due to which the whale was buried at the same spot.
“We were on our heels after the information was provided to us. Over eight cranes were employed for the purpose, but in the end we decided to bury it there itself,” said Mr Vasudevan, forest official in charge.
This is the 60th time a huge dead marine animal was spotted. Carcasses of dolphins, turtles and whales have been washing ashore in the city and nearby areas. However, the reason for the same is not yet known.
“We are not prepared at the ground level itself to deal with such distress or emergencies. In such a situation, three government departments play a major role: forest, police and the municipal corporation. We have been in such situations and have found that the coordination between the departments is not lacking,” said Pawan Sharma, director of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare.
