45 Whales Die After Being Stranded On Beach in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin

Forty-five whales have died after they washed up on a beach in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu last night. Around 36 more have been rescued.

Fishermen and officials dragged many of the whales back into the sea but they kept returning to the beach around 600 km from Chennai, say officials.

Experts say the whales may have traveled thousands of kilometers from the Pacific Ocean. They may have been hurt by corals and rocks, said officials.

“These are small fin whales. They appear disoriented. It is the first time so many have been beached,” senior district official Ravi Kumar said.

Officials say in 1973, as many as 147 whales beached and died.

“We have asked senior officials from the Gulf of Mannar marine park and the forest department to investigate,” Mr Kumar told NDTV.

In August, the carcass of a 33-feet-long whale washed up on a beach near a village in Nagapattinam district.