A partially-decomposed body of a 43 feet-long whale washed ashore near Kegaon village in Uran, Navi Mumbai on Thursday morning. As per officials of the Mangrove Cell and marine experts, it appears to be a blue whale.
The mammoth carcass also left the forest officials from Alibaug division exploring various possibilities for disposing of. Being a rocky shore, they could not bury it on the spot. What's worse is, they couldn't move it even with the help of vehicles.
"We suspended the operation on Thursday and now have two options. We will wait for the high tide on Friday and use a boat to drag the carcass to a sandy beach nearby, where it can be buried. If this doesn't work out, we will have no option but to burn it, as there is no other way we can dispose of the carcass safely," said Maneesh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), Alibaug.
On Thursday morning, a strong stench drew local fishermen to the site where the whale had washed ashore. They alerted the forest department and the mangrove cell immediately.
"It looks like a blue whale, but we will need more information to confirm the species," said Ketki Jog, a researcher with Konkan Cetacean Research Team (KCRT).
N Vasudevan, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF), Mangrove Cell, said that the staff have taken measurements as well as collected tissue samples from the carcass. "With the help of these samples we will be able to confirm the species," he informed.
Recently, in March, a 41.9 feet-long Bryde's whale carcass, which was decomposed and severely bloated, was found by locals on the beach of Talashil village in Sindhudurg, while another 42-feet blue whale had washed ashore in Revdanda, close to Alibaug in 2015. Mumbai also saw a beaching of a 37 feet-long blue whale on January, 2016.
BURIAL TROUBLE
- Forest officials from Alibaug division are exploring possibilities for disposing of the mammoth carcass. Being a rocky shore, they could not bury it. What’s worse is, they couldn’t move it even with the help of vehicles.
