The carcass of a whale was found ashore on a beach near Bakkhali in West Bengal on Monday. At around 8.30 am, a huge body about 59 feet long and 22 feet wide was found at the southernmost tip of West Bengal. First sighted by local residents of Loyolaganj in South 24-Parganas, 120 km from Kolkata, the carcass had a fishing net stuck in its tailstock. The death of the marine mammal shocked locals and experts.
A forest official told The Times of India, “The body was partially decomposed. It was lifted with a crane and buried on the seashore. Forest experts suggested that the body could be that of a fin whale. However, since fin whales are found in temperate waters, the carcass at Bakkhali may be that of the blue whale, the largest mammal on the planet. Divisional Forest Officer, South 24 Parganas, Milan Mandal said his team collected samples from the body for DNA testing by the Zoological Survey of India. He said the animal would be buried on the beach itself.
Deepani Sutaria, an ecologist who studies marine cetaceans in India, said, “A female baleen whale, most likely. Three species of baleen whales are found in the Bay of Bengal – the blue whale, the Bryde whale and the Omura whale.” Sutaria, a member of the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Network of India, said that based on length, the best estimate is a blue whale. is, probably a juvenile female. She explained that fin whales avoid tropical and polar waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. Further explaining the cause of death, she noted that the tail and floating fishing nets were tied around them. which indicates death due to gear entanglement.
“It could be a fin whale and its presence here could be a result of erratic migration. We have collected its skin samples and spoke to the ZSI,” Chief Wildlife Warden, Debal Roy, was quoted as saying by TOI Was.
Last month, the carcass of a female cuvier-beaked whale, a first for a Bengal coastline, was washed ashore at Bakkhali beach. Mandal said that no external injury marks were found on the body. In June last year, the carcass of a Bryde whale was washed ashore on the Mandarmani beach.
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