A 30 feet dead whale washed ashore on Juhu beach, Mumbai, last night.

Reportedly, the night joggers on the beach noticed the whale and informed officials. Experts said that it is a Bryde's whale. The police and forest department officials are examining the huge animal. Cranes have been called in to remove the carcass.

The experts even blamed the gently sloping shorelines that can deceive whales dependent on echolocation for navigation. Unnatural weather phenomena and climate change have also been known to affect whales.

After the examination, an expert said that the whale may have died two days ago. A similar incident took place even in the last year. At Alibaugh, Maharashtra, a huge blue whale washed up and died, struggling 10 hours to push back into the sea.

Even recently, 45 dead short-finned whales washed up at a beach in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu. 40 more stranded whales on the beach were saved. After travelling thousands of kilometres from the Pacific, the officials said, that, the whales ended up in Tuticorin.

While stranding of whales is very common at the place, mass beaching has baffled scientists for years. Whales, which are known to swim in large social groups, may sometimes follow a ‘disoriented’ leader and get beached.

Some ‘natural’ causes for whale beaching include following prey-rich water currents towards land or panicking at the presence of a mega predator such as a killer whale.

By Phani Ch