Dead Baby Blue Whale Washes Ashore on Kamakura Beach in Japan
Warts on its body indicated the whale was a male born this year.
A ten-meter-long baby blue whale was found dead near Kamakura beach in Tokyo on Sunday. Experts from the Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa said that the animal belonged to the baleen whale family. Warts on its body indicated the whale was a male born this year. It was the shape and body colour which confirmed it was a blue whale. National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan said that there are no previous records of blue whales being washed ashore in Japan.
The beached whale attracted people at the popular Yuigahama beach in Japan. The number of beached whales have been increasing due to various reasons recently. Last months, reports stated that an Icelandic whaling company Hvalur hf which hunt fin whales killed a rare blue whale or a protected blue whale hybrid accidentally.
Here is the photo:
Blue whales are protected by international laws since 1966. It is believed that commercial whaling has killed 90 per cent of the blue whale population. Blue-fin hybrids are quite rare and hence are highly protected. Whaling has always been a topic of discussion internationally among animal rights activists and others. The illegal practice of killing rare whale has decreased their population a lot lately making them endangered.
In June, a 40-feet-long carcass of a whale washed ashore in Uran near Navi Mumbai. Officials had said that the mammal was injured badly and died at the sea itself. It was suspected to be a blue whale. It was the 85th marine animal found on the Maharashtrian coast in the last three years.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 06, 2018 11:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).