Deal all, We post the following, hoping for a species ID. These photos were taken by "Shahariar Md. Shahbuddin" Thanks Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli Project Co-ordinator Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project. ____________________________________________________________________ newspaper articles published in "The Daily Star", 30.July 2007: Large blue whale found dead on Ctg beach Staff Correspondent, Ctg A dead blue whale was found on Kattali sea beach of Pahartali yesterday, which zoologists termed unusual for Bangladesh territory. "From the picture, I guess the whale could be around 50 feet long. I think it was swept away to Bangladesh water territory from the Indian Ocean after succumbing to its injuries," said Md Monzoorul Kibria, an assistant professor of zoology in Chittagong University. "It is a blue whale that is generally found in the Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and deep in the Bay of Bengal," he said. Local fisherman Sujan Jaldas, who first noticed the whale near the sea shore at around 1:30am, said, "I along with some fellow fishermen was fishing in the sea near the Kattali coast when I suddenly noticed something very big floating around our trawler. We got frightened and soon left the area for the shore." "In the morning we went to the shore again to have a glimpse of the animal. It was so big, really awesome!" Sujan said. The spot at Rani Rasmoni Ghat assumed a festive look as people from neighbouring areas rushed to see the whale. Some boys climbed on it and started dancing. There were injury marks on the whale's abdomen. A grown-up blue whale (valaenoptera musculus) can be 110-foot long and can swim up to 50 km per hour, Prof Kibria said. He urged the authorities to preserve at least the bones of the whale at some museum. Pahartali police said they had informed all the authorities concerned about the whale. ____________________________________________________________________________-- Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur Cell: ++88 01711 524887 Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli Cell: ++88 01711 696336 home: ++88 02 9344770 Sundarban Forever!
