By Belly M. Otordoz, Correspondent
LUCENA CITY: A long snouted spinner dolphin (stenella longirostris) was caught in Purok San Roque, Barangay Talao-Talao on Friday.
The dolphin was seen swimming near the shoreline about 11 a.m. by Tonyfer Kabilaw, 19 years old, and his father Romeo Kabilaw, 47 years old, both fishermen of said barangay. They caught the dolphin and tied it to a small boat. Angelo Bandillo, a member of Kabalikat Civicom-Auxilliary; also a resident of said area asked for the assistance of Tanggol Kalikasan for fear that the dolphin might be in danger because of the presence of some scars in the dorsal portion.
Atty. Sheila de Leon, area director of Tanggol Kalikasan, together with two colleagues immediately went to the area to document the incident and reported to PAWB-Quezon, BFAR-Quezon and the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian.
De Leon said that catching, selling, purchasing and possessing, transporting and exporting of dolphins is prohibited under Wildlife Act No. 9147 and Fisheries Administrative Order 185. As an endangered species, this long-snouted dolphin is also included in the Cites List.
SPO1 Jover Martinez and another officer, both from the Sub Office of 404-D MPP (PAC) inside PPA Commercial Port of Lucena City inspected the dolphin and said it was 5 feet in length and is more or less 20 kilos in weight.
According to Dr. Elma Ladiana from the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian, this dolphin is still juvenile and the scars in the dorsal portion are mild and superficial. She suggested that the dolphin be released immediately to avoid additional stress from human contact. She also said that maybe the dolphin was separated from its family while migrating to another habitat.
After three attempts to guide the dolphin off shore, Diosdado Dico, fisherman and also a resident of said barangay, finally succeeded in releasing the dolphin at 3 p.m. He said he just repeatedly massaged the belly of the dolphin and after that it went off shore.
Spinner dolphins are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, where they are restricted to tropical or subtropical regions.
About Tanggol Kalikasan
- Tanggol Kalikasan
- (Defense of Nature) is a non-stock, non-profit and non-governmental organization doing public interest lawyering in the Philippines. It has operated as an environmental law office for 17 years already. Tanggol works with national and international partners and networks and has its main office in Quezon City. It also maintains fully-staffed area offices in Alaminos City, Pangasinan (Northern Luzon Office) and Lucena City (Southern Luzon Office) and field offices in Lipa City and Baao, Camarines Sur.