Kozhikode: The carcass of a Blue Whale washed ashore in rain-hit Kozhikode Beach Saturday morning. The carcass was first spotted by local fishermen on the South Beach by 10.15 am.

“The carcass, which has started to decompose, looks more than two days old,” said a fisherman. The carcass was measured to be 15 metres (almost 50 feet) long.

According to experts, it is most likely a juvenile one as Blue Whales are measured at about 20 metres once they reach adulthood.

A large number of people, including children, visited the beach to get a glance of the giant creature. 

“A post-mortem will be conducted at the beach and the carcass will be buried there itself after making a giant pit as per the protocol,” Pramod, health officer in charge of Kozhikode Corporation, told Onmanorama.

The sample of the carcass will be sent for further tests at the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal. A decision on further procedures will be taken later, he added.

Blue Whales, the largest animals on earth, are an endangered species.