6/1/2015 Blue whale returns to Maharashtra waters, last sighting was in 1914 | The Indian Express

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Home India IndiaOthers Blue whale returns to Maharashtra waters, last sighting was in 1914

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A Bryde’s whale, one of a pod spotted four times, and (top) a blue whale, one oftwo spotted once.

Written by Anjali Lukose | Mumbai | Updated: May 21, 2015 10:16 am

A “big shape” and a “blow” greeted marine biologists on a

boat off the Sindhudurg coast two weeks ago. In search of

Blue whale returns toMaharashtra waters, lastsighting was in 1914Blue whales tend to be open-ocean species, but they do come close to the shoresto feed and are either resident or migratory.

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dolphins for a study on behalf of the Indian government and

United Nations Development Programme, the team spotted

Bryde’s whales just 600 metres off the coast. And it was not

the first time.

On March 28, the team had sighted a bigger surprise, a pair

of blue whales, near Kunkeshwar, 2.7 km offshore at a depth

of 16 metres. Since then, they have spotted members of a pod

of four Bryde’s whales four times — April 11, 16, 30 and May

6, near Achra, Tarkarli, Talashil and Sarjekot, at a depth of 15

m.

The blue whale, the world’s largest animal, has in particular

got the research team excited as the last reported sighting

was in 1914, one that washed up on the Maharashtra coast,

according to N Vasudevan, Maharshtra’s chief conservator of

forest, mangrove cell.

“Our boatmen suddenly saw a big

shape emerge,” Ketki Jog, a

member of the Konkan Cetacean

Research Team, said from a

trawler. “No sooner had we seen

the whale than we spotted the calf

and followed them for a while. We

took lots of photos and left them alone as the presence of the

mother meant ‘don’t disturb’.”

The research team includes Mihir Sule, Isha Bopardikar,

Dipani Sutaria and Vardhan Patankar, besides Jog. It has

been surveying the waters from Vijaydurg to Redi, near the

Goa coast, since May last year, up to 2.25 km offshore for

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

6/1/2015 Blue whale returns to Maharashtra waters, last sighting was in 1914 | The Indian Express

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    Comments (5)

Blue whales tend to be open-ocean species, but they do come

close to the shores to feed and are either resident or

migratory, said Sule, adding that Bryde’s whales are the most

common species of baleen whales along the Indian coast and

can go up to 15 metres long.

“Fewer than 10,000 blue whales, by one estimate, are on this

planet and a live sighting — that too a mother and calf — is

rare. We need to do further research to understand whether

it is climate change or other changes in the sea that are

causing these whales to come so close to the shore,” said

Vasudevan.

First Published on: May 21, 2015 2:17 am

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LatestComments (5)

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Charles  Who from the research team is 100 yrs old ? Wouldbe great to see the evidence that the whale has comeback after 100 years & Please also show me an articlewhen the whale last visited the Maharashtra waters1914 .

11 days ago ·    (0) ·   (0) ·  reply (0) · 

Points120

Manikandan  

Blue whale protect from sea monsters in maximumpercentages.

11 days ago ·    (0) ·   (0) ·  reply (0) · 

Shekhar Bopardiikar  

Researching for hump-back dolphins leads to astartling new discovery of presence of Blue Whaleafter 100yrs is a great and strange behavior oceanicmammals , and could be a serious matter for studyof global warming and it's effect on sea world.

11 days ago ·    (0) ·   (0) ·  reply (0) · 

Trevor A.Just-got-tenure Prof, Aquatic & Fishery Sciences @UW. Global fisheries

status, blue whales, @bluewhalenews, beautiful graphics, catch shares,

6/1/2015 Blue whale returns to Maharashtra waters, last sighting was in 1914 | The Indian Express

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status, blue whales, @bluewhalenews, beautiful graphics, catch shares,

#LeopoldLP, Rstats

 

There have been more recent strandings in India: atleast a dozen, e.g. Appendix three here:

11 days ago ·    (0) ·   (0) ·  reply (1) · 

S.A. Sequeira  

Url blocked i suppose. Post on your twitter orsomething

11 days ago ·    (0) ·   (0) ·  reply (0) · 

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