Bhubaneswar, Feb 8: State Environment & Forest Department will soon approach Union Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoEF) over the unusual death of several whales, the carcass of which had swam ashore in the past week. Recently, carcasses of two whales were spotted along the sea coasts in Ganjam and Kendrapara districts.
Officials in the department said, “There might be some problem in the deep sea which has led to the death of over 60 whales along the Tamil Nadu coast, one along the Mahatrashtra coast and now two along the Odisha coast. We will write to the MoEF to take necessary steps to ascertain the problems in the deep sea to prevent the death of these giant mammals. However, an expert said discharge of industrial effluents could be one of the reasons for the death of the whales. Notably, environmentalists have expressed concern over the large scale death of the Olive Ridley sea turtles along the Gahirmatha coast. Locals alleged that unrestricted movement of fishing trawlers were posing threat for the giant turtles while forest officials said the death of olive ridley turtles were not new phenomenon.
