In what could have been a certain and an agonising death for a 47ft-long Blue whale that was found stranded at the beach near Jaitapur, several hours of back-breaking efforts by over 100 odd men ensured that the whale was safely pushed back into the sea on Sunday.
According to forest officials, the whale which could have been around 15 tonnes, was reported stranded at the coastal village of Madban near Jaitapur Atomic Energy Project at Rajapur in Ratnagiri district on Saturday.
Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) and head of Maharashtra Mangrove Cell, N Vasudevan, who guided and helped the Ratnagiri forest officials from Mumbai for the rescue, shared that the whale seemed to have been washed ashore and was grappling in shallow waters for a couple of days. According to people involved in its rescue, it looked emaciated.
"The whale was spotted on Saturday but failing light and delay in reaching the place delayed the operation to rescue it. The ops could begin only on Sunday morning. Forest officials along with over 60 local fishermen first tried pushing it further in deep waters but its sheer weight and high waves made the rescue operation difficult," he said.
According to Vasudevan, soon arrangements were made to drag the whale using boats - something they had done successfully early this year in a similar case. "With the help of two boats the whale was tied and then the boats move in such a manner that it began dragging it into the water till the depth was suitable for it to swim. Soon the ropes were released and by afternoon the whale was back in water," said Vasudevan adding that had the whale not been in shallow waters but on the beach, it would have been impossible to save it.
In fact, the entire operation was managed by the forest department officials from Ratnagiri including Range Forest Officer (RFO) BR Patil along with forest guards as well as Pradeep Dingankar and Dr Rane, activists from Ratnagiri, and local people and fishermen who were present during the rescue operation.
Vasudevan shared that this was the second such successful live whale rescue carried out with the help of local fishermen and NGOs in Maharashtra this year. In fact, it was in February, in 2016, in what was believed as the first-ever live rescue of a whale in the country, a 40-ft Blue whale that got stranded after being washed ashore in just three-ft shallow water near Koltre village along the Dapoli coast was pushed back into the deep sea on February 1.
