Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 10: The skeleton of a 32-foot sperm whale that washed ashore the Beleswar river mouth near Puri was put up on display for visitors at the National Museum of Natural History in the city on the occasion of the institute’s 11th foundation day, Monday.
Scores of people thronged the museum to view the skeleton which took around nine months to be assembled by museum authorities. The sperm whale was found washed ashore near Astaranga in Puri district in December last year.
“There are two kinds of whales – toothed and baleen. Toothed whales like sperm whales have sharp teeth to catch, bite and kill their prey whereas baleen whales have mouths full of huge hanging, fringed plates like great brushes. The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale and the largest toothed predator,” said Dr GN Indresha, a scientist.
“Immediately after its death, we brought the whale after cutting it into 58 pieces to the museum where the cleaning, processing, preservation and articulation of all the bones was done for about eight months under the guidance of Dr SP Parida,” Indresha said.
With the sperm whale, the museum now has skeletons of both types of whales on display, after having collected the skeleton of a baleen whale that had washed ashore Gopalpur beach in 2010.
“Visitors can now see both types of whales at the museum. It will help students in their studies,” said Dr SP Parida.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests SS Srivastav, chief conservator of forests and director of Nandankanan Zoo Sudarshan Panda, director, ministry of environment, forests and climate change Dr VP Upadhyay and Dean of College of Forestry Prof MM Hussain attended the programme.