Endangered whale shark washes ashore, dies after unable to return

A whale shark washed ashore at Adimalathura, Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday morning. The shark was alive when it washed ashore. The fishermen said they pushed it back into the sea, but it subsequently died after being unable to travel back into the waters. The shark is listed in the red category of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) list of species, indicating an endangered status. Subsequently, Coastal Police as well as the Forest and Wildlife Department arrived at the scene. The shark was buried onshore after postmortem.