The dolphin carcass at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai on Monday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar) A carcass of a 7-ft Indian Ocean humpback dolphin washed ashore at the beach in Cuffe Parade on Monday afternoon. Following complaints from local residents, the range forest officer and volunteers from the state forest department’s mangrove cell visited the spot.
Prima facie the death appears to have occurred due to suffocation after the dolphin got trapped in fishermen’s nets a few days ago, officials said.
“The body washed ashore today. We don’t see any deliberate attempt to kill it. If there is any other reason, it will be cleared only after the autopsy,” said a Mangrove cell official.
Last July, a 8-ft-long humpback dolphin, weighing 50 kg, had washed ashore Uttan coast in Bhayander. Humpback dolphins are usually spotted along the coast of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. They are known for travelling in groups and it is rare to spot a single dolphin near the coast. They usually live in shallow coastal waters.
In the recent past, spotting of dolphins near the Mumbai coast has increased. In May 2018, the carcass of a humpback dolphin had washed ashore the Versova beach. It was too decomposed to undergo a postmortem and was buried in the sand.
In August 2017, a decomposed carcass of a humpback dolphin had washed ashore at Carter Road Promenade in Bandra.
Dolphins are endangered cetacean species, protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
