Young female dolphin found dead

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — A dead dolphin was found at the beach in Barangay Suba, Bayawan City in south Negros Oriental on Monday.

Fisheries technician Ian Sala of the local government unit of Bayawan City disclosed that a fisherman found the stranded dead dolphin at around noontime Monday.

According to Sala, the dead aquatic mammal was a juvenile female, weighing around 30 kilograms and measured about 1.75 meters in length. Sala said it looked like a spinner dolphin.

It bore four similarly sized wounds or holes on different parts of the body, which the fisheries technician said appeared to have been caused by a cookiecutter shark. A cookiecutter shark preys on dolphins and other marine mammals and fishes.

Sala said they buried the dolphin after documentation and measurement, as it was already starting to decompose.

This is the second marine mammal response reported in Bayawan City this year. Last month, a rare megamouth shark was buried in the shores of Bayawan City after it died due to an accidental fishing gear entanglement by a local fisherman.

Sala disclosed that the waters off Bayawan City are a “tuna highway” where many dolphins and other fishes can be found. (FREEMAN)