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11 December 2021.
Introduction:
The carcass of an endangered Bryde’s whale was found near the border of Puri and Ganjam districts of Odisha, recently.
Highlights
- It was a 48-foot-long female whale, buried near the shore.
- Exact cause of the death will be known only after getting post-mortem report.
- Two whales, one male and the other female, were found near the coast. It is likely that, carcass is of a female got stuck in the sea bed because of low water level.
Bryde’s whale or Bryde’s whale complex
- Bryde’s whale comprises of three species of rorqual and maybe four. “Complex” means the number and its classification remains unclear due to lack of definitive information & research.
- Common Bryde’s whale is a larger form occurring worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters
- Sittang or Eden’s whale is a smaller form, which are restricted to the Indo-Pacific.
- A smaller & coastal form of B. Brydei is found off southern Africa.
Common name
- Brydei have got its specific and common name from Johan Bryde, who was a Norwegian consul to South Africa.
- He helped in establishing the first modern whaling station.
- B. edeni gets its specific and common names from Sir Ashley Eden who was the former High Commissioner of Myanmar.
Distribution of B. brydei
- Brydei occurs in Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans in between the 40th parallels of latitude.
- They prefer highly productive, tropical, subtropical, and warm, temperate waters having 16–22 °C.
- They also occur in Honshu in the north Pacific, west & southern California as well as in Washington in the United States.