CHENNAI: A three-year-old dolphin that got caught in a fishing net near Kovalam beach later died on the shore on Sunday. Forest department officials said they received information from fisherfolk and members of the Tree Foundation’s Sea Turtle Protection Force in the afternoon that two Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, largely found along the Indian Ocean coast, were being brought to the Kovalam fishing village beach. The mammals were male, grey in colour and three-and-a-half feet in length, officials said. The fishermen, who only later realised that dolphins had been caught in their net, pulled it to the shore, as they could not remove the knots in the large net. They were released and while one of the dolphins swam away, the other one was stranded on the shore and was reportedly found to be weak.
“The dolphin could have suffered as it was continuously in the water after it was caught... It has to surface for breathing. This is the first time we have found this species here. It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972,” said S Davidraj, Forest Range Officer, Velachery.
Meanwhile, officials from the Velachery range office, who rushed to the Kovalam beach, found that the dolphin had died. It was buried on the shore with the help of the Tree Foundation.
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