Dead baby dolphin found near Gwadar

Rahim says dolphin had already been declared as one of the endangered species by the international organizations

GWADAR:

Another dead baby dolphin has been found at the West Bay, near Gwadar port on Tuesday evening. The local officials claimed it is the fourth case in last six months and all have allegedly been killed by the local fishermen because of the lack of awareness among them. “It was killed about an hour ago when I found its body on the beach,” said Abdul Rahim, the deputy director environment of the Gwadar Development Authority.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Rahim said that the dolphin had already been declared as one of the endangered species by the international organizations. Sharing the cause of the mortality, he said that: “It was because of the by-catch by monofilament fishing gillnetting used by the local fishermen.” He also said that he has recorded the marks on the dolphin’s body. “It is harmless and does not hurt anyone. The fishermen mistakenly kill them without knowing its value,” Rahim said, appealing the fishermen not to hurt the animals.

The local environmentalist and marine experts believed that the number of such mortalities was increasing because of the illegal fishing nets. “These dolphins live in shallow waters and in creeks while the fishermen mostly new ones do not know much about all the fish and hurt all such species,” Rahim explained.