Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 9: It took nearly nine months for zoologists and officials of Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH) to put up on display the skeleton of a huge sperm whale that washed ashore the Beleswar river mouth in Puri in December last year.
The skeleton of the giant mammal will be displayed Monday on the 11th foundation day ceremony of RMNH. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) SS Srivastav will attend the function as chief guest.
The whale was found dead near the Beleswar river mouth in Puri December 3. It was identified as a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Experts said the whale must have come from the Indian Ocean.
Speaking to Orissa POST, Chittaranjan Mishra, then divisional forest officer of wildlife in Puri, said they recovered the body of the mammal with the help of locals. Experts from RMNH and fisheries department were called in to examine the carcass.
Based on a big scar on the whale’s body, experts concluded that the giant mammal was hit by a trawler or ship, after which it died and floated all the way to its final spot of resting.
The DFO and his team measured the whale’s length at 32 feet. Its diameter was about 16.4 feet and weighed about 25 tonnes. The giant mammal was left unguarded on the shore for about a week after which RMNH officials went there and recovered the carcass.
Many locals including people from surrounding areas thronged the beach to see the giant mammal’s carcass. Several locals were seen going to the carcass and making holes in the body to extract whale oil.
Sperm whales are an endangered species usually found in deep waters. They are believed to be able to stay submerged for 90 minutes and can dive as deep as 2,250 metres. This makes them the second deepest diving mammal after the Cuvier’s Beaked Whale. Sperm whales can live up to 70 years.