Blue whales spotted off Sindhudurg coast after 100 years

A mother-calf pair of blue whales was spotted a few kilometres away from Sindhudurg coast after nearly 100 years sometime between March and May. The last time blue whales were sighted in Maharashtra waters was about a hundred years ago.

A group of researchers from the Cetacean Population Study team were deployed along the coast for the past six months under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project. The research is being implemented by the Maharashtra state magrove cell. 

The Cetacean Population Study team also sighted four Bryde’s whales.

A blue dolphin is the largest and heaviest existing mammal on earth; it is about 30 metres long and weighs over 180 tonnes.

N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forest, Maharshtra state mangrove cell, the last reported sighting of blue whale, the world's largest animal, was in 1914.