In third such incident in a week, two carcasses of Bryde’s whale washed ashore Honnavar beach

Highly decomposed carcasses of two whales were found on the beaches of Kasarkod Tonka in Uttara Kannada district on Saturday.

This is the third such incident to be reported from Honnavar in one week. On September 9, a 46-ft-long male Bryde’s whale was washed to the shores near Mugali Marine Sanctuary in Honnavar taluk. On Saturday, the local fishermen found the carcass of a 26-ft-long sub-adult female Baleen whale and a juvenile whale near Kasarkod Tonka.

While the fishers and marine biologists claim that the whales might have died of an accident caused by a ship; officials are yet to ascertain the reason for death. However, the officials have ruled out the possibility of death due to starvation or due to ghost nets.

A ghost net is a fishing net that has been lost or abandoned in the ocean. 

“Experts say the whales might have died at least 20 days ago,” said Honnavar Deputy Conservator of Forests Ravishankar C. The postmortem of both carcasses are being conducted and soon the reasons for marine mammals' death will be arrived at, he said.

The Forest Department does not have marine biologists and has to depend on NGOs and researchers to conduct the postmortem.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified the Baleen whale as the least concern species. However, Cetacean biologist and member of Cetacean Specialist Group IUCN Dipani Sutaria, says that with limited data available on the population of such species, any mortality should be a cause of concern.

Given that the sea shores of Karnataka have hardly any submerged rocky surface, the coastal areas, especially the Marine Sanctuary area witness diverse aquatic life. Marine Biologist Prakash Mesta says the beaches of Uttara Kannada are ideal places for breeding for several species including whales and sea turtles. “However, of late we are witnessing heavy movement of ships. The baleen whales that migrate in groups might have succumbed to injuries caused in an accident with one of the such ships,” he said.

He said in the last three years the local fishermen have reported the death of at least seven whales and 13 dolphins between Karwar and Bhatkal.

Prakash said the lack of financial, machine and human resources at the marine cell in the district is one of the reasons for the poor protection of aquatic animals in the State.

Ravishankar concedes that the department does not have the required boats and equipment to patrol in the deep sea or during high waves. “Currently, we are only administrating the marine sanctuary. With limited resources, we are unable to provide protection. We have sent proposals to both State and Union governments to provide us with required experts and equipment,” he said.