Dead juvenile dolphin found in Ormoc village

ORMOC CITY, Philippines—A dead female spinner dolphin, said to be about two years old, was found washed ashore at a coastal village in Linao, Ormoc City, late Tuesday night.

The marine mammal had several wounds on its body when found by residents of Purok 1 at around 10 p.m. Tuesday. It weighed about 20 kilograms and was 5.67 feet long.

The villagers immediately informed the police about the find and brought the carcass to the Ormoc City Agricultural Services Office.

Inspector Harris Rebato, the Police Station 3 deputy chief, said that based on the size of the wounds, the dolphin might have been shot by fishermen using .22-cal. handgun.

But Irish Belmonte, unit head of the Resource Enhancement Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ormoc Animal Production and Fisheries Division, said the wounds were not caused by bullets because these were shallow. They also found no slugs in the animal, said Belmonte.

Ms. Belmonte said she believed the dolphin, which was still a calf, might have been targeted by fishermen, who failed to catch it.

The wounds were not fatal but made the calf weak. But it was the separation from her companions that may have aggravated the calf’s condition, she added.

Belmonte said the killing of dolphins is illegal and carries a fine of more than P100,000.

Ormoc Bay, which is an inlet of the Camotes Sea, is a known nesting place of dolphins and playing calves are often spotted in these areas.

Last August, four large whale sharks, locally known as butanding, were seen in the bay for four days just a few meters from Ormoc pier.