Even as local residents residing close to Madh Island in Malad on Monday were shocked to find a decomposed partial carcass of a whale near the beach, sources claimed that chances of the same whale which was buried in May, could have been resurfaced.
It was on May 28 that two parts of a 40 feet Bryde's whale was found, one in Juhu while the other at Madh. According to Pravin Bhatkar, a local of Bhati village, spotted the carcass around 9 am on Monday. "I saw a huge carcass and on closer inspection realised its a whale. I then informed Ankit Vyas, who is an animal welfare officer," he said adding that around 10 days back they had also seen carcasses of porpoises washed ashore.
A senior official from Mangrove Cell said that a team collected tissue samples and will be sending it to Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) for identification. "As of now we cannot confirm its the same whale or not. We have photographs of the carcass found here earlier and we will certainly match it," said the official.
"The earlier carcass found at Madh was buried very close to the site where the new one was found on Monday. Due to pre-monsoon conditions, the sea is extremely rough and the waves are very strong. There are chances that the sand must have been displaced due to heavy tidal movement," said a source.
Since April, eight carcasses have been found washed ashore on the city's beaches, including that of olive ridley turtles, dolphins and porpoises. Experts claim that one could not identify the reason of the death without proper analysis and post mortem, which is next to impossible due to the decomposition of the carcass.
"The death could also be due to natural reasons. The data of such marine species should be maintained and the mangrove cell must put up boards with helpline numbers so that fishermen can alert them about such instances," said Pradip Patade, Convenor of Ocean Conservation Education Awareness Network (OCEAN) who has been documenting the city's marine life.
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