Spinner dolphin found dead along Chennai coast

 

Third dolphin to have died in the last 45 days

Chennai:

A young female spinner dolphin was found dead, the third one along the Chennai Coast in the last 45 days, sparking concern among green activists who demand seasonal closure of designated fishing grounds to allow the species safe passage during the breeding and migratory season.

 

Dr Supraja Dharini of Tree Foundation told Express that the Marine Mammal Stranding and Rescue Team from Tree Foundation responded to a call from Tree Foundation’s Sea Turtle Protection force member belonging to Nainar Kuppam in Uthandi that a dolphin appeared stranded along the beach.

 

“The team identified it as young female Spinner Dolphin after studying it. The dolphin’s dorsal area was dark gray, the sides light gray, and the underside was white, and had 68 teeth in its lower jaw, 66 teeth in its upper jaw,” she said.

 

“We believe it was accidentally caught by a fisher boat. It is likely that the hook line got embedded in the lower jaw. It would have tried to free itself from the hook and most likely drowned before it had a chance to surface and breath.

 

It was also found that the upper jaw of the dolphin was broken backwards, and the hook had been aggressively removed from the dolphin prior to it being discarded to the sea, said Gnanasekar, a Sea Turtle Protection Force Member (STPF). The spinner dolphin is a small cetacean with a slender build and this recent dolphin was 5’5” long indicating that it had not yet reached full maturity.

 

Found in off-shore tropical waters around the world, the dolphin is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it spins along its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air.

 

It is a member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales. The spinner dolphin is sometimes referred to as the long-snouted dolphin, particularly in older texts, to distinguish it from the similar Clymene dolphin, which is often called the short-snouted spinner dolphin.

 

This is the third dolphin to have died along the Chennai coast in the last 45 days. The first one, a spinner dolphin was found stranded alive at Kovalam beach on December 21, 2013. But despite the rescue efforts it failed to survive. The second, a male Indo Pacific Humpback dolphin was found dead near Sadras Kuppam on January 27.

 

Along with sea turtles there has been a worrying rise in the number of strandings along the east coast in recent times and this could be reduced only through strategic management and seasonal closure of designated fishing grounds to allow the species safe passage during the breeding and migratory season, says Supraja.

 

The dolphin was later buried above the high tide line, after due permission was received from the Forest Department.