A DEAD Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) was turned over to the Lapu-Lapu City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (CFARMC) yesterday noon.
Orlando Leyson, CFARMC chair, said the 40-kilo dolphin, measuring 1.6 meters in length, was caught in a fishing net in the waters off the islet of Caubian at dawn.
He requested personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources 7 to examine the carcass to find out what caused the dolphin’s death.
The dolphin was brought to the CFARMC by Caubian Barangay Captain Jackson Macbangon.
Spinner dolphins are considered a threatened marine species.
Andy Berame, coordinator of the City Coastal Law Enforcement Task Force, said the dolphin may have drowned after it was trapped in the net.
He said dolphins, being mammals like humans, need to surface from the water to breathe.
But Berame said a necropsy or a post-mortem examination on animals will determine how the dolphin died.
The Lapu-Lapu City Government recently enacted an ordinance prohibiting the catching of dolphins, sharks, whales, turtles and other endangered marine species.
Dolphins are commonly seen in the Hilutungan Channel, which separates Olango Island from Mactan Island.
Last May, an adult dolphin was also found dead on the shore of Sitio Angasil, Barangay Mactan. It was believed to have been hit by a sea vessel after it got separated from its pod and lost its way.