The carcass of an endangered Bryde's whale washed ashore near the border of Puri and Ganjam districts of Odisha, an official said on Friday.
The 48-foot-long female whale was buried near the shore on Friday after conducting a post-mortem examination. The exact cause of the death will be known only after getting the autopsy report, Range Officer Narasingh Behera said.
Local fisherfolk said they had found two whales - one male and the other female - near the coast on Wednesday evening and it appears that the carcass is that of a female that got stuck in the sea bed due to low water level.
The carcass was found on the shore on Thursday and the authorities and volunteers had a tough time keeping locals away from the area as a large number of people gathered to see it.
Anil Mohapatra, in charge of the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC), Gopalpur, under the Zoological Survey of India, said the forest department will be requested to preserve the skeleton in a museum for research purposes.
"We have collected tissue samples from the carcass of the whale for DNA analysis," Mr Mohapatra said.
He said carcasses of Bryde's whale were earlier found in Ganjam and Puri districts of Odisha, besides the Digha coast in neighbouring West Bengal.
Bullets Fired At Moving Train In Odisha, None Injured, Probe Underway Elephant Dies After Being Hit By Goods Train In Odisha Pregnant Government Employee In Odisha Loses Child After Being Denied Leave Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Who Is Winning The US Election Right Now? Live Updates: Trump Says He May Not Challenge Election As Long As "It's Fair" Equatorial Guinea Civil Servant's Over 400 Sex Tapes Spark Massive Row Fake Bomb Threats Linked To Russia Briefly Close Georgia Polling Locations FBI Warns Of Bomb Threats From Russia At US Voting Sites Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Who Is Winning The US Election Right Now? Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.