Mumbai: A 47-feet blue whale was rescued along the Konkan coast in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra on Sunday in a joint effort by locals, fishermen and forest officials.
The marine mammal was spotted fighting for its survival by the residents of Madban village late in the evening of September 10.
According to senior forest officials, the blue whale was weak and was looking dehydrated when it was spotted.
"It is possible that the mammal might be stuck in shallow water for approximately two days," said a senior forest official who was over viewing the rescue operation.
It needed the effort of 50 people including forest officials and two boats to send the blue whale into its natural habitat and the moment it was pulled in to the deep water, it swam further into the sea.
N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forest, state Mangrove cell, confirmed the rescue operation, he said, "A Blue Whale was found stranded at the sea coast of village Madban near Jaitapur Atomic Energy Project Taluka Rajapur District Ratnagiri on 10th evening.
It was safely released into deep sea water with the help of 2 boats by forest staff, NGOs, local people and fishermen today afternoon. The length of the whale was 47 feet and weight may be around 15 to 20 tonnes."
Although the mammal was spotted in the evening of September 10, the rescue operation got over in the afternoon of September 11. According to sources, the blue whale got so weak that it's ribs were visible while it was being rescued, but timely action by the rescuers saved the life of the marine mammal.
This was the second time a blue whale was rescued along the coast of Maharashtra. It is also being termed as one of the biggest rescue operations of a marine mammal along the Maharashtra coast by the officials.
Officials say that many a times due to high tides, marine creatures are swayed towards the coastline.
"If the high tides are strong enough then it can even push a blue whale to the shallow waters," the official said.