Fishery Survey of India (FSI) Director General R. Jeyabaskaran has said Omura’s whale was spotted for the first time in the Indian coastal waters on the west coast off Mangalore.
The FSI DG was in the city to participate in the inauguration of the renovated Marine Museum of FSI by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala on Monday.
Interacting with media persons, Mr. Jeyabaskaran said that the Omura’s whale family was traced during the ongoing marine mammal stock assessment survey in the 2.02 million square km EEZ of India. In all, 10,483 dolphins, belonging to 18 different species, and four different species of whales were detected during the last one year. A blainville whale (toothed whale) was spotted off the Goa coast.
He said that the FSI has two research vessels ‘Matsya Shikari’ and ‘Matsya Darshini’. “We have requested the Union Minister to allot new vessels,” he added.
D. Bhami Reddy, Head of Office, FSI, Vizag, said that QR coding was being done for all the specimens in the renovated museum for the benefit of students and visitors. On scanning the code on their mobile, visitors can get complete history of the specimen.
On the activities of FSI, he said students, research scholars and the general public could visit the museum to learn more about marine life. An Open House was being held every year for the general public and students.
