Very often the whales are found dead in the Indian Ocean over the last two years but the authorities are not serious enough to find the reasons behind the frequent deaths of the mammals.
In the latest case, a body of whale was swept ashore on April 3 near Puri. In the last two years, at least 12 whales have been found dead and their bodies were recovered in the Puri-Konark areas. Again in the last year alone, five dead whales were found from Odisha coast, and in all cases, physical wounds were found, which confirm that they were killed in accidents.
The dead whale, which was recovered on April 3 from the Puri coast, measured 32 feet long. Here also the reason is accident. The fishing trawlers are found frequently all over the ocean day and night without any restriction, which spoil the habitat of not just of the whale, but also of all the sea-dwellers, especially of the oceanic mammals, which are very prone to such accidents due to their heavy physical weight.
Most of the kinds of whales are migratory in nature, which periodically migrate from sub-polar region to the tropical and sub-tropical latitudes. The winter and the summer always influence their migrations from colder regions to warmer regions to colder regions. Most of the marine mammals are of such nature. For example in summer, the whales migrate from the southern hemisphere, which is very warmer region to colder region of the Antarctic water. Similarly in winter, the coasts of Australia and Madagascar are vacated by these creatures due to the cold.
Every mammal is very sensitive to cold and hot temperatures. The whale cannot be an exception. The Rorquals which is another type of whale, migrates to high latitudes in summer and in winter comes together to sub-tropical zone. The marine mammals are natural resources to man. This is very commercially valuable to man as well.
The Indian Ocean is known to be very rich in oceanic mammals like whale. The whale, such as the blue whale, the finner whale, the Rorquals and the sperm-whale are always noticed in the Indian Ocean. The hunting of whales is restricted all over the world. It is an endangered animal. So the Governments of India and Odisha should take appropriate steps for protection of all types of oceanic mammals in the globe.
The average length of blue-whale, which is generally noticed in Odiisha coast, is 4 feet or 22.5 metre (female) and in case of male, it is 23.5 metre. The weight comes to 81 tonnes in case of female and 86 tonnes for male. The maximum length of whale body recorded was 34 meters and the weight was 152 tonnes. The whale body is lined and hairless, except few hairs found in the lips, but the tip and under surface of flippers looks whitish.
All the whales, including the blue whale, prefer to inhabit in the open ocean. They do not prefer the lakes and off-shores. Winter is their mating and breeding season. Blue whale always prefers to live on crust of the ocean like the prawn. Sometimes it covers several square kilometers of ocean.
The blue whales become sexually mature at the age of 4 to 5 years. The pregnancy lasts for 10 to 11 months. The pregnancy generally occurs every two to three years. The blue whale is hunted extensively since invention of the steam catcher and harpoon guns. So their number is severely depleted for the reason. Now worldwide, these animals are protected with greater seriousness.
The finner whale or the common Rorqual is the second in size to blue whale. Due to unrestricted mechanised fishing in the Indian ocean, these animals are killed in large numbers. The ecological sustainability of the Indian Ocean is very sound; so the whale populations are generally frequenting to this ocean for food. The State Government should be very particular about safety of these mammals.
Since 1937, several international conventions, rules and regulations restricting human intervention during the whaling season for a period of 3 months have been imposed. Generally, the winter is the whaling season. It is the breeding period of many ocean reptiles and mammals. So winter is the very crucial and protection measures should be strengthened for all ocean creatures during this time. No part of the whale is useless. Even the bones yield oil and the residue is used as best kind of fertilisers. The flesh also yields best protein for man.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)