The carcass of a 19-foot-long whale shark weighing nearly 1,500 kg was netted by fishermen off Sahabajipur coast in Balasore's Bhograi block on Wednesday.

Jaleswar range officer Jayshree Murmu said a group of fishermen from Sahabajipur had ventured into the sea on Wednesday morning for fishing. They cast their net around 700 feet from the shore. While the net was being hauled, the whale shark got entangled in the mesh. By the time the net was drawn closer, the shark had already died.

With much difficulty, the fishermen managed to bring the dead whale shark near the shore. However, they could not pull the carcass on to Udaipur beach despite the help of local villagers due to its enormous size.

On being informed, local forest personnel reached the beach on Thursday and retrieved the dead whale shark using an excavator and a tractor. A veterinary team from Jaleswar and a biologist from Similipal Tiger Reserve conducted the postmortem in presence of forest officials. Subsequently, the carcass was taken to Udaipur forest for burial.

Murmu said, "We suspect the shark may have died due to suffocation after getting trapped in the net. Samples have been sent to OUAT in Bhubaneswar for analysis. However, the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the test results arrive."