Archives

by Chloe Griffiths

The process of appropriately burying and preserving the giant whale carcass, washed ashore at Bambalapitiya bay has begun led by the National Zoological Gardens of Dehiwela and helped by the Department of National Museums.

The huge 66 foot blue whale body was discovered in the early hours of last Wednesday morning near the Railway station.

Although the circumstances of its death remain unclear, experts from the Centre for Research on Marine Mammals (CRIOMM) identified cut marks and a large bleeding wound around the tail which indicate it may have been attacked by sharks.

The zoo began the process of preparing and moving the huge body to be taken to the National Museum, Colombo 7, so that it can be buried within the premises.

Director-General of the zoo H.A.N.T. Perera told the Daily News that the process of stripping the giant carcass was a massive task.

The team working on the whale managed to remove half the flesh from the tail end of the body and separated it. Then, using a rail crane, they managed to lift the whole half over the railway line onto the land beyond.

The head and body part of the whale remained on the beach and efforts were being made to remove maximum flesh from both parts so that the carcass will be at minimum weight for its removal to the museum. Simultaneously a grave site was being dug at the National Museum.

Director-General Perera said: "It will be a very expensive operation but we believe that recording and preserving the skeleton will be a very worthwhile process. The museum director has been kind enough to allow us to bury the remains in the museum premises."

The Director-General added that preliminary plans were for the carcass to remain buried for between three and six months, for it to fully decompose.

The remains will then be excavated so that the entire skeleton can be displayed at the proposed new zoo museum.

Plans are under way at the zoo to convert an old animal display house, which was demolished due to poor ventilation and inadequacy for animals, to be converted into a new museum displaying old skeletons.

The zoo has previously kept only one skeletal remains of each animal species, giving the other remains mostly to Sri Lankan universities for research and study purposes. The zoo is still waiting for funding approval from the government to construct the museum and to employ appropriate staff, such as a museum curator and specimen preservers. This mammoth whale skeleton could form the centre piece of its new display.

The National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) were also initially involved in the investigations but are no longer participating. Head of Marine Biological Resources Division, Dr Champa Amarasiri said that they did not think it would be possible to ascertain a definite cause of death and they have already been displaying a 73 foot blue whale skeleton on their premises, in Colombo 15, for the last two years.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager