A 40-feet-long dead whale has washed up on a beach in southern Bangladesh district of Patuakhali.
It washed up on the shores of the district’s Kuakata, a popular tourist destination, during the high tide on Saturday morning, said the local Kolapara Upazila administration chief Md Tanvir Rahman.
“It weighs four tonne. We suspect it died in the sea at least eight days ago” said Kolapara Upazila Fisheries Officer Md Kamrul Islam.
A marine expert has identified it as baleen whale.
“They don’t have teeth rather a filter-feeding system inside the mouths. It works by a whale opening its mouth underwater and taking in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as food source for the whale,” said Farhana Akhter of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Baleen whales usually grow up to 40 to 50 feet, said the WCS Marine Education and Training Coordinator adding, “They are usually seen near the swatch of no ground in the Bay of Bengal.”