Incessant rains and rough weather condition might have led to the death of the whale, say forest officials
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT

The carcass of a blue whale washed ashore at Meghavaram beach of Santabommali mandal in Srikakulam district on Friday morning. Hundreds of people from nearby villages gathered at the beach to see the carcass. According to the forest officials, the carcass was weighing around 25 tonnes and its length was around 25 feet. Normally, the marine mammal’s weight is around 199 tonnes and length is around 30 metres, the forest officials said.

The dead animal was said to be a small one. Incessant rains and rough weather condition might have led to the death of the whale, according to preliminary observation of the forest officials. Marine police personnel of Srikakulam division informed the forest officials about finding of the sea whale’s carcass at the beach.

Srikakulam District Forest Officer Nishakumari directed the local forest officials Yella Sanjay , S. Srinivasa Rao, Gowri shankar and others to protect the carcass since it was one of the rarest sea animals. she said that veterinary doctors and experts of Visakhapatnam Zoological Park would perform post-mortem and a send a detailed report to the government.

Marine Circle Inspector G. Demullu and other police officials inspected the site and asked locals not to damage the carcass.