Another dolphin gets stranded in Bangui

PMMSN-Ilocos Norte chapter responds to a stranded dolphin in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. (Lei Adriano)

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

Bangui, Ilocos Norte—A male Fraser’s dolphin, weighing about 25 kilos and measuring 1.4 meters long, was found beached At sitio Tabortit, Brgy. San Lorenzo in this town on Nov. 5.  

Rosario Aguedan, acting Bangui municipal agriculturist the stranded dolphin was found by a fisherman identified as Raffy Fereria near the shoreline.

She said local residents helped the dolphin back to the wild but it went back to the shore. However, just before responders arrived at the site, the dolphin died.

According to Ms. Aguedan, barangay folks first reported the incident to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office and then it was relayed to the Municipal Agriculture Office, Provincial Fisheries, Veterinary Office and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources who are also members of the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding Network (PMMSN).

The PMMSN-Ilocos Norte chapter volunteers led by provincial fishery regulatory officer Arthur Valente, provincial fishery officer Roy Gonzales, Gerome Taggaoa and at least two veterinary doctors, Jeneveve Suliva and Dianne Licuan immediately went to Bangui to respond to the stranded animal.

A necropsy was performed where tissue samples were collected for ecotoxicology and histopathology analysis. After taking the samples, the carcass was buried.

Based on initial result, Dr. Suliva said the dolphin may have lost his sense of direction while he was searching for food as a predator attacked him.

“The dolphin appears to be in healthy body condition. However, there were three fresh external injuries, a cookie shutter shark bite. There was no abnormality found inside the body organs except for small lumps in the lungs. Tape worms were found in the small intestines and sand uncovered near the colon. The stomach is also empty,” said Dr. Suliva citing the dolphin may have not eaten for days and it was very weak when found by residents.

Over the past four years, it has been observed that the coastline of Ilocos Norte has become a burial ground for marine mammals, with 17 dead dolphins and whales found on the shores by local residents all year round, mostly from July to August.

For the period of 2010 to 2014, the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding Network-Ilocos Norte chapter, a convergence initiative of volunteers from government and non-government organizations including the media has recorded a total of 32 stranding events, where a majority or 55 percent of the stranding cases were dead. There were some or 14 out of the 31 stranding events that were successfully released through the collaborative effort of the local government units, fishermen organizations, law enforcers and the active participation of the tri-media groups in instilling public awareness about the plight of these sentinels of the sea.

Record shows that there is a high rate of stranding events in Ilocos Norte, making the province as one of the hot spots of marine mammal stranding in the country.

Among the species found on the province’s coastline were pilot whale, spinner dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, beak whale, Fraser dolphin, dwarf and giant sperm whale, humpback whale, pygmy killer whale, Pantropical spotted dolphin, Risso’s dolphin and rough-toothed dolphin among others.

According to Mr. Valente, in his capacity as PMMSN-Ilocos Norte chapter head, the results of previous necropsy analysis and laboratory examinations conducted show marine animals get stranded when they flee fishermen hunting them or get sick as a result of polluted environments.

“They also get stranded when they try to flee bad weather, dynamite fishing or get lost in their search for food,” Mr. Valente added.

The increase of reported cases for the past four years may have been attributed to improved information and education drive and an increased public awareness on the special role of marine mammals as sentinels of the sea.