RESIDENTS of Punta Dumalag in Matina Aplaya, Davao City, discovered a lifeless spinner dolphin early Wednesday morning, August 2, 2023.
In a Facebook post, D’Bone Collector Museum founder Darrell D. Blatchley said the six-foot male dolphin, which has an estimated weight of 40 kilograms, appeared to have ruptured eardrum based on the conducted necropsy.
"Cause of death through necropsy was not a total [confirmation] though there were no remains of food in [the] stomach or intestines," Blatchley said.
He said the eardrums appeared to be ruptured due to "blood pooling on both sides."
"Ruptured ear drums [affect] the [dolphins’] hunting capacity as [it is their] sonar or echolocation system," he said.
Blatchley said the DNA of the marine creature has been saved for study while its bones will be prepared for display at his museum.
"Number 76 for the museum. 61 due to man in 15 years," he added.
Environmental group Ecoteneo, in a reshared post from Blatchey, said Davao Gulf is home to at least 15 species of marine mammals.
"Activities that affect their hearing are crucial and can cause their death because they travel through echolocation," Ecoteneo said in a statement.
Spinner dolphin is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales.
According to an October 2005 report by the Marine Mammal Science, spinner dolphins are small cetaceans with a slim build. Adults are typically 129-235 centimeters long and reach a body mass of 23-79 kilograms.
The National Wildlife Federation, meanwhile, in a separate report, said that these dolphins live in warm ocean waters around the world, including one near Thailand, along the Pacific Ocean coast of Central America, and around the Hawaiian Islands.