KENDRAPARA: The Forest department will preserve the skeleton of the 25-ft-long Bryde’s whale, that washed ashore near Devi river mouth, at the Natural History Museum in Dangamal within Bhitarkanika National Park.
On January 24, the carcass of the whale had washed ashore at the Devi river mouth beach under Kujang forest range in Bhitarkanika. The carcass has been buried with the intention of preserving its skeleton. The Forest department has already contacted noted wildlife biologist and taxidermist Siba Prasad Parida to assist in the skeleton-preservation process.
Bhitarkanika divisional forest officer Varadaraj Gaonkar said Parida and his team examined the carcass on Monday for skeleton-mounting work. The buried whale will be excavated after two months. Subsequently, skeleton-mounting work will be undertaken after collecting the bones.
Parida said DNA, bone and skin samples of the whale have already been collected and handed over to the Forest department. “The samples will be sent to the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata to identify the species, determine its gender, map genetic diversity, and analyse population health or pollution levels,” he added.
Parida has carried out skeleton-mounting work of five whales over the past 14 years across Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka.