The carcass of a 40-foot dark whale, with deep injury marks, washed ashore at Rajnagar in Kendrapara district of Odisha on Saturday morning. It weighed round 10 tonnes.

The divisional forest officer (DFO), Rajnagar Mangrove (Wild Life) Forest Division, Bikash Ranjan Das, told reporters: “We will conduct a post-mortem to know the reason of death. The high-speed winds due to Cyclone Amphan might have had their impact on the aquatic species. The strong wind and tidal surge caused by Cyclone Amphan might have hurt the species. It may have got hurt due to the movement of ship or trawler also.”

Sources said the fishermen of Agarnai coast near Gahirmatha marine sanctuary spotted the carcass in the sea and informed the forest department. With the help of ropes, it was hauled to the beach and later taken for post-mortem.

The mammal is a Schedule 1-species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. “The department will take a decision whether to bury the carcass or go for preservation of the skeletal remains,” Dash said.