JAGATSINGHPUR: Carcass of a female whale shark washed ashore at Ramatara near Siali beach under Erasama area on Monday. No injury mark on the fish was detected during preliminary investigation.
Kujang forest ranger Ranjan Mishra said the female whale shark was 20-feet-long and weighed 1,500 kg. After postmortem by a veterinary surgeon, the carcass was buried in a casuarina forest. The cause of death will be ascertained after autopsy report is received, he said.
This was the second whale shark to have washed ashore on the Paradip coast within three months. The endangered species are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.