Carcass of giant whale found off Odisha coast

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, Dec 26:

In the second incident of its kind this month, the carcass of a large whale was found at the Gouda Nuagaon beach under Krushnaprasad block near Brahmagiri in Odisha’s Puri district today.

The dead whale measuring around 30 feet in length, 12-15 feet in girth and weighing approximately 10 tonnes was sighted by villagers at about 2 pm today.

Curious villagers have gathered in huge numbers on the beach to have a glimpse of the large aquatic mammal. Awestruck by the size of the dead creature, the villagers said they had never seen anything like in their lifetime.

After being informed by the villagers,  officials of the Chilika Wildlife Division have arrived at the spot. Though the whale is suspected to have been hit by a ship in the deep seas and swept ashore to the beach by tide, Wildlife officials said the real cause behind the whale’s death could be ascertained only after an autopsy is performed.

It may be noted that a 32 feet long, approximately 75 years old sperm whale was washed ashore near Kelua river mouth of Astarang on December 3.