Gigantic Bryde’s whale draws crowds at Mumbai beach

Mumbai, Jan 29:

A gigantic Bryde’s whale, approximately 40 feet long, which was washed to the Juhu beach here around midnight, drew huge crowds even as authorities made efforts to clear it off on Friday.

Officials from the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), forest department and police, besides veterinarians are engaged in the gigantic operation to remove the whale’s carcass safely and dispose it of.

A BMC official said that the whale, which had no external injuries, may have died in the Arabian Sea in the past 48 hours and and washed ashore late Thursday night.

Though the carcass has not degenerated, it has become bloated with water and gases, making the task of disposing it challenging, the official said.

Two hydraulic cranes have been deployed by the BMC to lift the carcass onto a container van and take it to the outskirts of Mumbai for safe disposal.

The estimates of the whale’s weight ranged between three to five tonnes and it is among the biggest mammals which has washed ashore on the state’s coastline in recent years.

In June 2015, a 42-feet long Blue Whale had washed ashore on Revdanda beach in adjacent Raigad district.

Police had a tough time controlling thousands of curious citizens and tourists who trooped in to the Juhu beach for a glimpse of the gigantic mammal and attempted to click selfies with the dead whale from different angles. (IANS)