CEBU, Philippines - A dolphin was found dead early morning the other day in Barangay Alo in Oslob town.
A spinner dolphin about four feet long, died due to sickness according to an NGO taking care of the marine biology of Oslob called the Physalus with the Large Marine Vertebrates (LAMAVE) Project.
It was buried right away, said Mayor Ronald Guaren.
Physalus president Dr. Alessandro Ponzo, said that the most probable cause of the dolphin’s death was sickness and hunger.
“The stomach was empty and it was very, very skinny so probably it was a disease, like a long-term disease or it was not fed for a long time. So to be able to assess the cause we need to do more analysis, for sure there was no human interaction or signs of being trapped in the fishnets,” he said.
Ponzo, who is from Italy, and Samantha Craven, a Filipina-British who is the principal investigator of Oslob Whale Shark Research, said that dolphins die naturally or due to illegal human interaction or getting caught in fishnets.
“Its death was reported to us early in the morning and amo na dayon ning gilubong. Walay nanghilabot sa dolphin kay gi-educate man nato ang mga tawo ngadto nga dili hilabtan ang atong mga aquatic animals,” Guaren said.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia commended the progress Oslob in protecting its marine life.
“It is really a testament to the focus and attention that our mayors had put into preserving the rich marine biodiversity of our island and coastal marine resources have been so protected by our LGUs,” she said.
“The mayors in the part of the province are very serious in protecting the marine resources as they are against illegal fishing, wala’y dynamite fishing didto and they are very vigilant to commercial fishers,” she added.
She said that the planktons has regenerated and the area has become a rich feeding ground for these sea creatures, and due to this whale sharks are now seen in Moalboal.
“Nagsugod ang Oslob, we can learn from the Oslob experience, they already have the ordinance nga mahimo na nya nang template. The whale sharks are there to be appreciated, not to be butchered or eaten nor not to be used as a surfing board,” she said.
“Tungod aning ordinansa nga atong gibuhat, malipay gyud ang tanang mobisita ngadto kung moadto sila sa Oslob, labi na ang mga divers,” Guaren said.
“It is good nga nisaka na ang level of awareness sa mga tawo, the appreciation for these sea creatures and of course our commitment to protect them. We should heighten this awareness and continue to educate through information dissemination on how to take care of these marine resources,” Garcia said. (FREEMAN)