BACOLOD CITY – An Irrawaddy dolphin being monitored by a conservation group here died in a shark attack in Negros Occidental Sunday.
This was announced by Lumba Project, the University of St. La Salle (USLS) Center for Research and Engagement based here that studies on critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins found in Bago and Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.
“We are disheartened to announce that one of our identified Irrawaddy dolphins, N-08 (also known as ‘Sheared with cut’ or ‘Fuji’ by researchers), died last Sunday, March 14,” the group said on a Facebook post Tuesday.
According to the group, fishermen from Barangay Taloc, Bago City claimed that they witnessed the dolphin being attacked by what appeared to be a large shark while they were returning from a fishing trip in Guimaras Strait.
They recovered the weak and wounded dolphin from the surface in an attempt to rescue the mammal, but the dolphin was not able to make it.
A large chunk of flesh and muscle was torn away from the dorsal thoracic region of the dolphin.
Rakings also surrounded the chunked-out portion, as well as on the pectoral fins of dolphin, while large triangular marks were found on the exposed muscles, suggestive of a shark attack, the group said.
The group earlier said that Irrawaddy dolphins in Guimaras Strait are the most endangered mammals in Western Visayas, with their population at dangerously low levels.
Lumba project thanked the people who helped in the response of this stranding as well as the succeeding necropsy.