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Dolphin found dead in Gaddani

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: A Spinner Dolphin was found dead at the Gaddani beach. Two days ago, dozens of dolphins were seen on the same beach. Sindh and Balochistan wildlife departments and experts are still clueless and cannot solve the mystery behind the appearance of such a large number of dolphins so close to the shore.

“Not a single dolphin died on the first day and only the dolphin that appeared after the first incident died and on the day it died, no dolphin was reported to be seen,” WWF-Pakistan cetacean conservation project officer Babar Hussain said. He added that the dead dolphin was 7.7 feet long and around 1.9 feet wide.

“When we received information about the dead dolphin, we rushed to the beach, however, some unknown person took the dolphin in his private car and handed it over to the local fishermen. Later, the Lasbela University Department of Marine Studies officials took the animal away for research, the officer revealed.

Interestingly, when contacted, the university officials bluntly rejected the claim made by the cetacean conservation team officials.

“We have contacted our team leader Dr Mauvis A Gore and she said that perhaps some sharks and other cetaceans chased these dolphins and forced them to come out onto the beach, or maybe the shortage of food in the Arabian Sea has forced these animals to rush to the beaches,” said Hussain.

He said that his team has collected samples for laboratory examination. Interestingly, the cetacean conservation project had worked from November 2005 till November 2008 during which several cetaceans were reported dead and the team collected samples but none of these samples have been sent for laboratory analysis yet. “Around four dolphins and five whales were reported dead and we have collected samples and will send them after completing all the research on the project,” added Hussain.

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