Nine dolphin carcasses float ashore in Kuakata beach this year

A carcass of a 10ft bottlenose dolphin floated ashore in the Kuakata beach in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali on Friday, taking the total numbers of dolphin carcases recovered this year to nine so far.

Locals said the dead mammal drifted ashore in the morning. Local resident Jhony Alamgir told Prothom Alo they saw the dead dolphin floating in the east side of the beach adjacent to the Zero Point in the morning and it had hit marks on the body.

Volunteer organisation Kuakata Dolphin Protection Committee leader Ruman Imtiaz Tusar said they along with people from the forest department recovered the carcass and buried it under the soil at a safe location.

According to the Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh (ECOFISH) II of the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), known as WorldFish, an international organization working to transform aquatic food systems, nine carcasses of various species of dolphins drifted ashore in Kuakata beach 2024 so far, and a total of 58 dead dolphins floated ashore between 2018 and 2023.

Sagarika Smriti, associate researcher (Patukhali district) at ECOFISH-II Activity, said dead dolphins floated ashore in Kuakata one after another, and that is a matter of concern.

They have provided training to make fishermen aware about saving the friends of sea – dolphins. It was urgent to find the reason for death of these dolphins, she added  

Earlier on Thursday, another bottlenose dolphin was trapped in a ditch after the mammal swan ashore along the high tide. Volunteers rescued it later and released it in the estuary of the Bay of Bengal later.