Mumbai: 32-ft decomposed carcass of whale washed ashore at Alibaug

Decomposed carcass of a whale, estimated to be around 32-feet-long, washed ashore at Alibaug beach on Thursday morning. The forest officials, who spotted the carcass, buried it in a remote section of the beach the same afternoon.

Decomposed carcass of a whale, estimated to be around 32-feet-long, washed ashore at Alibaug beach on Thursday morning. The forest officials, who spotted the carcass, buried it in a remote section of the beach the same afternoon.

According to the Alibaug forest division officials, the carcass washed ashore 1.5kms away from their office around 9am. They found a 22-feet-long partially decomposed carcass of a whale with most of its upper body missing.

“The mammal’s total length could be around 32-feet. The length of the carcass that washed ashore was 22-feet and it weighed almost 15 tons. Most of its visceral organs were missing,” said RH Patil, range forest officer, Alibaug forest division.

Patil added that the mammal could have died at sea more than seven days ago and was washed ashore owing to the high tide on Thursday morning. “The exact reason for its death cannot be ascertained as most of its body parts were missing,” he added.

N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forest, mangrove cell said, “We cannot confirm whether it is a Blue whale or a Bryde’s whale before DNA sampling of the species is done. The samples have been collected by the forest authorities and have been sent for tests.”