Mumbai: Dead porpoise washes up at Juhu beach

The dead porpoise that had washed ashore Juhu beach

Visitors to Juhu beach were surprised at the sight of a dead porpoise that had washed ashore on Tuesday. It is unclear what had killed the mammal. A postmortem was conducted and the report will be out in a day or two. On Tuesday morning, the NGO RAWW received a distress call from locals informing them about the dead marine creature. Speaking to mid-day, founder of RAWW Pawan Sharma said, "The stranding was reported immediately to the mangrove cell, after which a team of first responding staff , with vet and wildlife biologists, was sent to the spot."

Marine Biologist Ketaki Jog, 30, who studies marine eco systems, also visited the spot. "We found that the creature was a female porpoise measuring 92 cm. The postmortem was conducted by veterinarian Dr Neha Shah from the Animal Husbandry Department and the report will be submitted to the mangroves cell. We did not find any external injuries on its body."

During the monsoon the incidents of marine creatures such as turtles, dolphins, etc, washing ashore increase along the west coast from Colaba up to Palghar, and every time there is an injured creature found, the same has to be rushed to the rescue centre in Dahanu. Former marine scientist Dr Vinay Deshmukh said, "There are several reasons behind injured and dead marine creatures washing ashore, including injuries due to propeller hits and other reasons. The need of the hour is to carry out proper investigation into the deaths of marine creatures by carrying out proper postmortems."

In August, there were three instances, including two dolphin deaths and one porpoise death along the Mumbai coast. The findings of the postmortem had suggested that both the dolphins died of sudden heart attack but the reason for the death of porpoise remains unknown.

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