The carcass of a Black Merlin, an endangered species of exotic fish, washed ashore at the Rabindranath Tagore beach in Karwar, on Monday.
The fins and beak of the three-metre-long fish had been chopped off.
Oceanographer Dr ShivaKumar said that the fishermen who caught it must have probably left it behind because the carcass was decomposing.
Exotic fish
The Black Merlin is an exotic species of fish which lives deep underneath in the South Asian seas.
It is hunted for its fins and beak out of which artefacts are carved for the Japanese, Chinese and American markets. Its flesh sells at a high price at the fish market.
The Black Merlin can swim at a speed of 120 km/hr because of its huge backbone and grows to a length of four metres, said Shivakumar.