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by Vimukthi Fernando

The operation was monstrous. The disposal of the 'leviathan' carcass, was no easy task. More than 75 people from different government, non-government and private institutions laboured for two full days. Though some volunteered their services others had to be pushed to the task. Now the work is over and while the skeleton stays buried for a few months in the Zoological Garden premises in Dehiwela and the tonnes of flesh in huge pits dug in the Railway Resesrvation close to the railway station Bambalapitiya, many a question still stands unanswered.

The first authorities to visit the site, NARA was satisfied with their field observations by noon, on Wednesday. They declared that it was of an endangered species - a Blue Whale, 67 feet in length and 30 ft. in circumference. Its cause of death was suspected injury - a substantial wound on the dorsal (upper) side, possibly caused by a moving ship.

As for the possible cause of death, Dr. Hiran Jayewardene, Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC) said that it could not be determined. The injuries however, he said could also be caused by shark bite. The time of death could possibly be one or two days prior to its beaching.

Such deaths of whales is fairly frequent around Sri Lanka and recently there had been a few, he noted.

This is the 7th whale that was washed ashore since beginning of the year.

The skeleton of the whale was requested by IOMAC as well as the National Zoological gardens. According to the mandate - NARA's responsibilities end at recording the incident, said Dr. P.P.G.S.N. Siriwardene, Director General. NARA's mandate provides only for research and development on conservation issues and to provide technical guidelines and input for policy and legal framing he said. NARA is not responsible either for legal enforcement, or practical factors such as disposal of the carcass in this case, he pointed out.

In the end it was the National Zoological Gardens which came to the rescue. The management and staff were encouraged by the enthusiasm of the members of the Young Zoologists Association (YZA), who volunteered. About 15 members of the YZA and 15 zoo staff pepared themselves for the daunting task.

They were joined by 15 labourers of Abans Pvt. Ltd. which had taken the contract of garbage disposal of District 5. With the support of the Department of Railways and the Colombo Museum they laboured for two days from morning till late in the night to separate the bones off the flesh and to carry it to the zoo grounds to be buried.

The incident raises many questions. Who is responsible when such 'natural' incidents happen? Who is respobsible for the marine animals in the Sri Lankan waters. Who does the cleanliness of the coast come under? If there are so many agencies, who are 'not responsible' and act in the manner of 'white elephants' why should the tax payers support the existence of such agencies?

* The blue whale is the largest mammal on earth.
* An average adult blue whale is about 24m to 27m in length and weighs about 90 to 120 tonnes.
* The largest ever caught was a cow measuring 33.27 m
* The heaviest recorded was 190 tonnes.
* A newborn blue whale calf weighs about 2.5 tonnes and is 6-7m in length. It drinks 230 litres of milk helping it to gain 4 kg per hour!
* The blue whale has the largest appetite on earth. It takes in four tonnes of krill every day.
* The Indian Ocean was declared a sanctuary for large whales by the International Whaling Commission in 1979.

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