The 40-foot-long mammal had washed ashore the beach, 17 km from Alibaug, on Wednesday and died early last morning; it was buried at the same beach after a pit was dug using bulldozers and cranes. It is 17 km south of Alibaug. Forest officials had reportedly contacted marine biologists after spotting it on Wednesday when it was still alive and struggling to survive. "This big whale was first spotted on the shore on Wednesday afternoon. It was initially showing signs of life, so the villagers tried to push it back in the sea. However, the whale later died,'' informed a local resident. Chief conservator of forests (mangroves cell), N Vasudevan, said: "It is unfortunate that this blue whale was stranded in the shallow sea and eventually died. The blue whales are the biggest species of earth, and can grow up to 100 feet." Vasudevan added that the dead whale was later buried on the beach at Revdanda on Thursday. This is reportedly the biggest sized whale to have washed ashore in and around Mumbai coast in recent times. The latest dead blue whale was reportedly a young female. In and around the Maharashtra-Karnataka coast, we normally see Sperm whales and Bryde's whales. Almost 20 types of whales are found in the Arabian Sea. There are two basic types of whales - toothed and baleen. Baleen whales have a specialised filter in their mouths that blocks out dirt and other sea trash while these mammals drink the water. Blue whales and Humpback whales, which were washed ashore in and around Mumbai coast earlier, belong to the baleen whale category.
