Navi Mumbai, June 14: A carcass of about 40 feet long whale washed ashore the coast of Khar Danda in Uran, near New Bombay. Forest officials have said it is most likely a blue whale. Fishermen from the area said they spotted the dead body early in the morning around 8.30 am. This is the 8th case of a whale washing ashore the coast in Maharashtra since the year 2015.

“It looks like the mammal died quite a long while back at sea. You can see bones jutting out of the body,” said Tukaram Koli, a fisherman from Uran in a news report. A whale carcass washed ashore the coast in Uran after 40 years. A 48-feet long dead whale was found on the shore in the year 1978 according to the local fisherman.

The officials from Maharashtra mangrove cell collected tissue samples to identify the species. "It appears to be a blue whale, and is estimated to weigh around 20 tonnes. Our team has collected samples. We will bury the carcass at the site itself,” said N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest said to a report in Hindustan Times. The exact reason of the death could not be known but officials said it could be due to infection, old age, shipping noise, if it was hit by a ship, or any disturbance in the sea.

This dead carcass happens to the 85th marine animal found on the Maharashtrian coast in the last 3 years, indicating the sad state of the fishes in the ocean. The marine life is under big threat due to the rising pollution in the oceans. Recently a whale was tried to be rescued in Thailand who had his stomach full of plastic. The whale vomited out plastic bags and died later. Marine life carcass including those of humpback whales and dolphins have been found several times on the Konkan coast in Maharashtra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2018 06:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).