A nearly 40-foot whale drew large crowds on Mumbai's popular Juhu beach on Friday until it was removed with the help of a crane. The whale, weighing around 20 tonnes, had washed up on Thursday night.
It was noticed by lifeguards and joggers who called the police.
A forest official assessed that the "Bryde's Whale" had been dead for two or three days.
A crane was called in to remove the massive whale from the beach, which rests against the Arabian Sea.
This is the second biggest whale to have beached along the Maharashtra coast. Last year, a blue whale washed up at Alibaugh and died after a 10-hour struggle to push her back into the sea.
Experts have listed several possible causes of death.
Beaches line Mumbai's coast and they are often home to piles of rubbish, particularly during the monsoon months when high tides leave tonnes of waste.
Earlier this month, 45 dead short-finned whales washed up at a beach in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district. Around 40 more that were also stranded on the beach were saved. Officials suggested that the whales ended up in Tuticorin after travelling thousands of kilometres from the Pacific.
Doubts Over Hardik Pandya Leading Mumbai Indians In Suryakumar Yadav's Presence After India Captaincy Snub? On CCTV, Gym Trainer Picks Up Club, Hits Mumbai Man On Head During Workout "Can Only Happen In India": Australian Woman On Uber Driver Navigating Flooded Mumbai Street Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV "Atmanirbharta" Cannot Be At Cost Of Nation's Defence: Air Force Vice Chief Meta Content Moderation Vendors Hit By Global Cyber Outage Conspiracy Theories Take Off After Global IT Crash UP Train Services Resume At Gonda Accident Site Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.