Carcass of 33 ft sperm whale found at Rushikulya rookery in Odisha

BERHAMPUR: A carcass of a 33-foot-long sperm whale got washed ashore at the Rushikulya rookery in Odisha’s Ganjam district, said a forest official on Thursday.

The Forest official said that they located it on Wednesday after getting information from local people of Kantiagada village.

He said the carcass was in a decomposed condition, and intestine had come out as the abdominal sac had burst open.

Even though the reason behind the death is yet to be ascertained, it is alleged that the death of the whale may have occurred due to the fishing trawler.

It is the second sperm whale carcass to have reached Odisha coast.

On December 4, 2015, a live female sperm whale measuring 9.8 meters had reached the coast near Keluni river mouth at the north of Konark beach in Puri district.

A carcass of an over 45-foot-long Bryde’s whale had been found near Dankalpadu on May 3, 2007. Chilika Development Authority now preserves the skeleton of a Bryde’s whale at Satapada.

Besides, a Bryde’s whale and a sperm whale are preserved in the Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhubaneswar.