The short-finned pilot whales began washing up on beaches on Monday evening, said M. Ravi Kumar, the top government official in the southeastern port town of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu state.
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Fishermen and officials dragged numerous beached whales back into the sea but they keep returning to the shores near Manapadu and Kallamozhi villages, say officials.
Local administration informed that this is for the “first time when these small fin whales have beached”. The number kept increasing, rising to more than a 100, with around 45 feared dead. It is very unusual. “However, not these many washed ashore then”, TOI quoted Rajan, a fishermen in Manapad, as saying.
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Till reports last came in atleast a score of whales have died with local fishermen engaged voluntarily in making efforts to push back the beached whales back into sea. They may have been hurt by corals and rocks, said officials. The Tuticorin district collector as well as a team from the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park have made their way to the area to inspect the beaches.
