Whale shark washes ashore at Orissa coast

A whale shark washed ashore at Orissa coast on 27th March. The 1.5 tonne 12 foot long specimen was found at Devi river mouth on Sunday. The previous day, it was first found in an injured state here and forest officials managed to push it back to the sea.  However, the next day it was found washed ashore with its tail and fins snipped off.  It is suspected that fishermen had cut them to sell in the market.The cause of the death is yet to be ascertained by the forest officials.  Whale sharks are not common on the Orissa coast and  so far there have been very few records of sightings and strandings.  Biswajit Mohanty, Wildlife Society of Orissa biswajit Mohanty <bmwildlife@HOTMAIL.COM> Dated : 31st March,2005