The Mandapam Regional Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), which has conducted the post-mortem on the whale washed ashore at Valai island, one of the 21 islands in the Gulf of Mannar Region, has decided to preserve its skeleton for its museum.
M. Sakthivel, CMFRI Scientist, who led a team of four scientists to the island and conducted post-mortem on Saturday, said the whale was a two-year-old female calf and should have been recently weaned off by its mother, after completing the lactation period.
The young calf had head injuries and should have died after hitting a rock while going for hunting on its own after weaned off by its mother, Mr. Sakthivel told The Hindu . They had collected samples of muscles, intestines, bones and baleen parts for detailed DNA studies, he said.
The studies would help them to ascertain the species of the whale, though prima facie it looked like the blue whale species.
There were similarities between fin whale and blue whale species, the studies would help the scientists to exactly ascertain the species, he said.
Three weeks agoThe whale should have died at least three weeks ago, he said adding the parts of the versatile animal were found degenerated at the shore of the island.
Soon after death, the carcass would go into the bottom of the sea by its weight and remain in the seabed for at least 10 days.
After getting bloated, it would come to the surface of the sea and then wash ashore, he clarified.
After the Forest department personnel bury the remains of the whale, CMFRI scientists propose to collect the skeleton and preserve it in the National Museum at CMFRI, Mandapam centre. The skeleton would become the main attraction in the museum and help to create awareness of marine animals, he said.
The process of collecting the skeleton would commence three months later after obtaining necessary permission from the Forest department, he said.
Presently, the museum had the lower jaw of a sperm whale, collected in the 1960s, Mr. Sakthivel said. S. Ganesalingam, Forest Ranger, who accompanied the scientists in a boat to the island, said the remains of the whale would be buried in the next two days.
