NEWSFLASH

DOLPHINS SHOT, BEACHED, BUTCHERED IN DAGUPAN

Dagupan City, March 10, 2000 Government fisheries officials came to late to save most of the 11 spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) which ran aground at dawn Thursday at Barangay Bonuan, a popular beach resort area.

Ten of the dolphins had bullet wounds. Four of them were already dead and four others had been butchered and reportedly sold for P50 a kilo at the village market by the time officials from the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) arrived to rescue them.

“When we arrived, two of the dolphins were tied to a bamboo pole while another was inside a fishpen,” NIFTDC chief Westley Rosario said. “I believe the others died after the villagers lifted them from the water.”

He theorized that the other dolphins might have been still alive when fishermen discovered them.

The three surviving dolphins were immediately released to the sea after NIFTDC scientists injected antibiotics and treated their bullet wounds.

“They may have been shot in the high seas a few days ago, as the dolphins’ wounds were already healing,” Rosario said.

Under the Fisheries Code, possession of a dolphin, which is classified as an endangered species, is punishable by 20 years imprisonment and P200,000 fine. Dolphins are among the protected species under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.

Rosario said there is an emerging pattern indicating that Lingayen Gulf is along the migration path of dolphins. He theorized that the dolphins may have moved out of the waters off Taiwan, where they could no longer stand the prolonged cold season.