Spinner dolphin dead two days after rescue

A MALE spinner dolphin was found dead by fishermen along the shores of Barangay Tangke, Talisay City, Cebu Saturday morning.

The sub-adult sea mammal measured 5.8 feet and weighed 60 kilograms.

Talisay City Councilor Danny Caballero said the dolphin washed ashore past 9 a.m.

It was taken to the Fishermen Sea and Ecological Care (Fiseca), the City’s version of Bantay Dagat, in Barangay Cansojong in an attempt to save its life, to no avail.

Escape

Johann Tejada, marine biologist of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources 7, said they rescued the dolphin last Thursday afternoon off the coast of Barangay Tungkop in Minglanilla.

Some residents saw the dolphin swimming near the shore and looking weak, prompted them to call authorities for help.

Tejada said they brought the dolphin to their office. Its condition improved on Friday.

They brought the dolphin to the coast of the South Road Properties with no intention of releasing the animal, which was still recovering.

Tejada said they don’t have the facility to rehabilitate sea mammals and it usually takes them more than a week to fully recover.

“Nilangoy lang og kalit. Pwerteng sikad nga paspas kaayo (It suddenly swam off),” he said.

He said they chartered a boat to tail the dolphin and to monitor its condition.

The agency then informed the local government units of Talisay City, Minglanilla and Naga City about the presence of the dolphin to prevent fishermen from catching it.

Cause of death

Based on their initial inspection, Tejada said the dolphin may have died from pneumonia. However, they took samples from the dolphin’s tissue organs for a necropsy.

He said the illness could have only been secondary to the dolphin’s cause of death.

Tejada said dolphins develop pneumonia if sea water enters their lungs. Sea mammals don’t have gills like fish and can’t stay underwater forever.

“They must come to the surface to breathe through the blowhole,” he said.

Spinner dolphins, Tejada said, is common in the country, including in Central Visayas. The dolphin gets its name because of its unique behavior of rapidly spinning in the air when it jumps out of the water.

The dolphin was buried yesterday outside the Fiseca office so residents won’t eat it.

“We have always discouraged the public from consuming dolphin meat because of its high levels of mercury and toxin,” Tejada said.

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