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| IT file photo |
By
Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter
Bangui, Ilocos Norte—Another endangered marine mammal was stranded
near the Bangui windmills at Brgy. Suyo in this town.
Ten-year
old Christopher Alos, a Grade IV pupil of Suyo Elementary School in Bangui,
Ilocos Norte was playing near the wind power farm along the stretch of Bangui
bay when they a spotted what seemed like a “balyena” or whale a few meters from
the shoreline.
According
to Alos, the mammal has a wound in the head and appears to be weak.
But
when several people went near the endangered animal, witnesses said “it went
back to the wild.”
As
of this posting, trained responders of the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding
Network-Ilocos Norte chapter in coordination with local officials and nearby
residents in the area are monitoring the Bangui Bay as the spotted whale may return.
Earlier,
two spinner dolphins were again stranded in the coastal barangay of Saud in
Badoc, Ilocos Norte. One of them was successfully released back to the wild
after regaining his strength while the other one died shortly after being found
by responders.
The
Provincial Agriculture Office-Fisheries Division of Ilocos Norte said rampant
illegal fishing has been eyed as one of the reasons of the increasing number of
stranded marine mammals along the Ilocos Norte coastline.
“Since
January, there are now eight marine mammal strandings that has been recorded in
Ilocos Norte, which is very alarming,” said fishery regulatory coordinator
Arthur Valente of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPAG).
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