A dwarf sperm whale was washed ashore at Nainarkuppam near Uthandi on Monday.
Volunteers of the TREE Foundation who noticed the dead carcass established the identity of the species with the help of Zoological Survey of India authorities.
Supraja Dharini of the Foundation said the whale’s carcass was highly decomposed and the lower body of the whale had been severely damaged. It was badly injured with the rib cage and stomach exposed.
It also had an injury on its head near the blowhole region which could be one of reasons for the whale’s death, she said.
The whale was 6.69 feet long and weighed nearly 300 kgs. The flipper was 27 cm with a width of 18cm.
Dwarf Sperm Whale is one of the smallest marine mammals to be called a whale. There are totally three species of sperm whales – Sperm Whale, Dwarf Sperm Whale and Pygmy Sperm Whale. As they are small in size, slow and lead a solitary life, it becomes difficult for researchers to observe them in the wild. Because of this, not much information was available, say the Zoological Survey of India authorities.
The carcass was buried by the Foundation members, she added.
