BERHAMPUR: Bryde’s whales are being sighted in sea near the Rushikulya river mouth coast near Berhampur city in Ganjam district, Orissa. As per the traditional marine fishermen of Orissa coast such sightings are not new. They claim since generations they are seeing these mammals in sea that they call ‘Timi’. In 2007 carcasses of two whales had been swept to the Ganjam coast. One of them happened to be a Bryde’s whale.
But this time photographic evidences of these whales have been documented for the first time.
A research scholar of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, Sajan John managed to take photographs of these whales during his studies of marine habitat of Olive ridley turtles near Rushikulya rookery. He photographed sightings of these whales in winter as well as in summer.
The photographs of these whales were sent to researcher of cetacean species of Chilika Development Authority (CDA), Muntaz Khan for confirmation and recognition of species. Mr Khan confirmed that the photographs were of Bryde’s whales. “Although we all knew this special species of whales are found in Bay of Bengal we did not have any documented evidence regarding their existence till date,” Mr. Khan said.
This species was located and documented for the first time in Burma in 1878. It was named in honour of Norwegian consul Johan Bryde, who built the first whaling stations in South Africa.
Unlike other whales species the Bryde’s whales prefer to inhabit tropical and temperate waters rather than the polar seas. Moreover, they prefer to live in less deep water near the coast rather than living in deep sea like other whales. So, their sighting near Orissa coast is obvious, said Mr. Khan. These whales are smaller in comparison to other whales. They reach length of around 12 meters and can weigh about 25 tonnes. They are peaceful in nature and live on small fish, krills and planktons. So the fishermen of the area have never been worried of them since generations.
The Pioneer
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