30-foot whale carcass washes up on Juhu beach
A 30-foot whale carcass, weighing around four tonnes washed up on the Juhu beach in Mumbai. The forensic department and police have begun examining the animal, which they believe is a Bryde's whale. Experts are pegging likely causes for this incident to be "sound pollution under water, pollution from industries, plastic consumption, or even disease, since the animal has no external injuries".
A 20-feet long humpback whale was washed ashore in Uran, Navi Mumbai in two pieces. One of the locals reported, "The whale's body was decomposed. It must have been in the sea for many days, which is why it was also broken into two," A turtle measuring 2.5 feet diameter was also found dead in close vicinity.
The world's largest whale is 98 feet and 180 metric tons in weight. It is the largest known animal to have ever existed!
As many as 10 dolphins had been found dead on the shores of Mumbai's various beaches in the past one month. While environmentalists, biologists, activists and researchers were bewildered by this rate of frequent unexplained deaths, the state department has not been paying heed to the matter. The environment minister when contacted said that he was not aware of these incidents.
An 18-feet long fish was washed ashore on Mumbai's Manori Beach. Vice-President of the Akhil Maharashtra Macchimar Kriti Samiti, Malcom said, "The whale has been lying dead in the open and stinking since Sunday evening, but neither the BMC nor the disaster control management cell has visited the site even after our calls." Local fishermen said that the animal's body was devoured by scavengers.
The death toll of marine animals continued to rise with another rotting carcass of a dolphin being found as the authorities remained inactive. The carcass was swept ashore by a tide around 6 pm and the locals informed the civic body. The civic body took charge of the carcass and informed the state forest department which sent it for a detailed autopsy.
The state government had finally taken action to investigate the unusual deaths of whales and dolphins on Mumbai's various beaches. They sent sea-water from 17 different locations along the western coastline in the laboratories for testing. An official said, "Apart from the autopsy reports that are still awaited, the government wants to screen the level of pollution, pH and acidity scale in the seas."
A 42-feet long blue whale was washed ashore Mumbai's Alibaug beach, before dying from several injuries. The locals informed fishery authorities but due to the heavy weight of the mammal (about 20 tonnes) and marshyness of the beach, the whale couldn't be pushed back into the sea. The whale eventually died and was buried on the beach itself by digging the ground.
All these sudden unexpected and unexplained deaths are new for the city of Mumbai. The last report of death of marine animals was in 2012, when two whales had died ashore.
