The carcass of a 33-feet- long whale was washed up on the shores of a village beach near Tarangambadi in Nagapattinam district.
Forest Ranger Gopinath said the carcass was sighted by fishermen of Chinnagudi village.
The whale weighed five tonnes, Gopinath said.
Since the carcass was highly decomposed, the forest department did an autopsy on the spot. It was later buried.
The cause of the whale's death was not known, he added.
