A 10-ft-long whale shark was found washed ashore at the Panambur beach here on Sunday. The whale shark, among the largest fish species in the world, is commonly found in deep seas around the Lakshadweep Islands, and it, probably, is the first incident of a whale shark found washed ashore at Panambur, according to Yatish Baikampady, Chief Executive Officer of the Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project.
The cause of death is yet to be established as the whale shark, which washed ashore around 9 a.m. on Sunday, bore no external marks, he said. “It is 10 feet long and very wide and weighs heavy. As we could not move it, we dug a pit on the beach and buried the shark there,” said Mr. Yatish.
An average whale shark is around 30 feet in length and weighs around 9,000 kg.