TAGUM CITY—Villagers have rescued a 4-foot young dolphin that got beached along a coastal village here on Monday, authorities on Tuesday said.
The 130-centimeter (4.33 feet) long juvenile spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) was stranded during low tide around 3 p.m. in Barangay (village) Liboganon, according to Edwin Lasquite, city information officer.
Known for their spectacular acrobatic flips and spins over the water, the long-beaked dolphins are common in warm ocean waters, like in the Philippines.
A spinner dolphin could grow up to 7 feet and could weigh over 77 kilograms (170 pounds). A dwarf subspecies of the mammal have also been found in parts of Southeast Asia. Of estimated one million long-beaks, about 4,000 have been found in the southern Sulu Sea and off northeastern Malaysia.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature includes spinner dolphins on its red list of threatened species.
Lasquite said members of the city’s Bantay-Dagat (Sea Patrol) then retrieved the female marine mammal and handed it to personnel of the city veterinary office for proper attention.
He said the dolphin, whose body measures around 65 cm (2 feet), would be released back to sea by Wednesday. RAM
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