A 40-feet carcass of a Bryde’s whale washed ashore the coast of South Mumbai in Colaba on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported. The whale was found in two pieces – one 26-feet-long body and its tail which was approximately 14-feet-long.

The decomposed carcass was first spotted by residents of Oyster Building in Colaba’s Navy Nagar on Saturday night. However, the forest department was not informed until Monday. It is suspected that the mammal may have died two weeks ago.

“It was found in two parts and because it is highly decomposed, it is not possible to ascertain the exact cause of death at the moment,” Assistant Conservator of Forests Makarand Ghodke told DNA. “The carcass did not have any injury marks and prima facie the mammal died a natural death.”

The Bryde’s whale, which is common in the Arabian Sea, is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, making it an offense to kill the mammal. The whale can grow up to 50-feet-long.

In a similar incident, a 45-foot-long Bryde’s whale carcass was found in two pieces along the Juhu and Madh beaches in Mumbai on May 28.