Locals attempted rescue efforts, but in vain.
Villagers along the Rajodi beach, near Nalasopara got together to try and push a struggling seven-foot whale stranded at the beach in shallow waters on Thursday. However, their attempts were in vain as the mammal kept being pushed back on the shore by strong waves and succumbed hours later.
According to locals, the whale was first spotted around 1.30 pm on the beach and local fishermen who saw it immediately gathered and began trying to push the mammal into the waters, trying to help it make its way back into deeper waters.
“The waves were too strong and it was extremely difficult for people to even get near the struggling whale. Nothing seemed to be working, although at one point, it seemed that it had made its way back. But then within seconds it was pushed out by the waves and it was evident that the whale was too weak to swim back,” said an eyewitness.
James Rodrigues a 51-year-old resident of the Rajodi village shared that by around 3 pm, the lifeless whale was lying on the beach. “Even then, some people made attempts to again push it into the sea, but we could feel that it was not responding and realised that nothing could be done. We all felt pained as such a beautiful creature died,” he said, adding that seeing the whale, hordes of people including locals as well as tourists gathered on the beach.
According to him, they soon decided to bury the whale as a large number of people began taking pictures and were calling more people on the beach. “We called the fire brigade and with the help of local people we dug a pit and buried the whale as we did not want a commotion nor the foul smell from the carcass to spread,” said Rodrigues.
While the coastline has been witnessing several beachings of marine species including turtles, dolphins, porpoises, speaking about this latest incident, marine biologists said that looking at several images being circulated on social media, the female whale seemed to be either a dwarf sperm whale or a pygmy sperm whale.
Researcher Mihir Sule, member of Konkan Cetacean Research Team (KCRT) said that both the species belonged to the genus Kogia and should not be confused with sperm whales as it was a different family. These whales are rare to spot as they are extremely shy, in fact, they also sport a skin folding just behind the eye that resembles the gills of a shark. “As I got the information I contacted the Mangrove Cell and spoke to the officials and it was decided that we will be visiting the site on Friday to take tissue samples and we will also be able to identify the exact species after taking a closer look at the carcass,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ketki Jog, who is also a researcher with KCRT said that while she appreciated the efforts shown by locals in trying to push the whale back into the sea, she was glad that none of the people involved got injured. “The whale was clearly struggling and fortunately it did not hit any of the rescuers accidently, as such impacts could lead to serious injuries. Studies have shown that stranded animals are weak and even if they are pushed back into the sea, they might soon wash ashore and die,” she explained.
An official from the Mangrove Cell shared that since the carcass has been buried, they will seek the help of locals and exhume the carcass as collecting the sample was extremely important. “Since we do not have staff from the Mangrove Cell in the Vasai region, we have co-ordinated with the local forest department to ensure that there is no problem faced on Friday when marine biologists visit,” said Makarand Ghodke, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Mangrove Cell.
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