Whale on Failaka may have perished due to swallowing ropes

The mammoth blue whale that has recently come ashore Kuwait's Failaka island is said to have perished due to swallowing up some cables, according to an environmental authority. These cords were stuck deep in the whale mouth and are believed to have obstructed food intakes, said Talal Al-Serhan, in charge of marine environment sciences at the club, in a statement on Sunday. A club team worked for four hours to extract samples and make measurements of the dead whale but the task was difficult due to start of the corpse decaying and emission of some gases from it, he indicated, urging for hasty burial of the whale to avoid some more harmful effects. On Saturday, Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) urged authorities to make use of the specimen for educating students and the public. This beached whale at Failaka Island has been found to be between 15 to 20 meters long. Blue whales are known to be the largest mammals on earth whose size could exceed 30 meters long.