Wounded dolphin dies while receiving care in Pangasinan

TOO LATE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) carefully handle this 3-meter Risso’s dolphin set for rehabilitation as it arrives at the BFAR pen on Cariaz Island. But it was too late as the marine mammal died just as it reached the island. —PHOTO COURTESY OF BFAR ILOCOS REGION

CALASIAO, PANGASINAN — A wounded Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) that was stranded off the coastal village of Petal in Dasol town in western Pangasinan on Friday night died just before noon Saturday.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Ilocos said the three-meter dolphin has stopped breathing upon arrival at the Cariaz Island at the Hundred Islands National Park.

The dolphin was taken there supposedly to undergo medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Before the dolphin arrived on the island, volunteer veterinarian Hassmin Chogsayan had made preparations to save its life, such as the needed equipment for blood test, administration of dexamethasone and gastric intubation, according to BFAR Ilocos.

Necropsy

Aside from wounds and scratches all over its body, the dolphin has no buoyancy, the agency said.

Chongsayan, according to BFAR Ilocos, would still conduct a necropsy to find out what caused its death.

Last June 21, another dolphin – a Spinner (Stenella longirostris) – was stranded off the village of Solotsolot in San Juan, La Union, but was released just after a few hours.

Two days later, on June 23, a Spinner dolphin was also found off Barangay Carot in Anda town of Pangasinan at 6 a.m., which was immediately released to the sea.

Risso’s dolphins, like all marine mammals, are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Risso’s dolphin populations of the North, Baltic, and Mediterranean Seas are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

It is also covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area, the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region and the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia.