39-foot Dead Humpback whale washed ashore, Ratnagiri, India

Dode, who was the first one to discover the dead marine mammal, told ADC, “I had never seen anything like that before in my life. I knew that whales existed but hardly had imagined one such big as this one in the same waters I fish.”

Experts like Dr. Shankar Gajbiye, scientist-in-charge, National Institute of Oceanography believes that, the whale could have well died in waters outside the western coastline and was washed on the beach with the tide. “The spotting of marine mammals like Dolphins, Whale Sharks, Whales increases with the arrival of fishing season, between February and May. The humpback whale that had washed ashore in Dapoli was not a full-adult and its death could have been due to several causes,” said Gajbiye.

Considering the ever-increasing pollution in waters near coasts also a key-factor, Dr. Gajbiye added, that a month back almost 24 Dolphins were reported of been spotted in Saurashtra which was after a 11 metre long Whale Shark drifted dead in Karachi harbour.

Hundreds of locals from surrounding flooded the beach to watch the dead mammal while several locals also uploaded videos on social networking and video sites.