VISAKHAPATNAM/KAKINADA: Local fishermen sighted a carcass of humpback dolphin, which was washed ashore at Uppada Beach on Wednesday, and informed the same to the fisheries department.
Inspecting the carcass, the officials said that the dolphin might have died while trying to escape from suspected dangers. “These dolphins swim rapidly when they approach the shore. Unfortunately, some of them get sick or struggle with changing water, resulting in their death,” the fisheries department said.
Stating that this is the first time that they have spotted a dolphin on the shores of Uppada Beach, Chodipalli Raju, a local fisherman, said that usually dolphins reach the shores of Odalarevu and Antarvedi in Konaseema district and after 40 years, a dolphin was spotted in Uppada.
However, marine biologist and founder of the East Coast Conservation Team, Sri Chakra Pranav, clarified, “It cannot be the first sighting in 40 years because many dolphins wash ashore every year due to various reasons, but the locals now say so because they were not able to report such incidents previously. These dolphins can be easily spotted on the coasts during high tides.”
On the other hand, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department PV Satyanarayana mentioned that dolphins usually live in the deep sea, possibly behind Hope Island and said that they were previously spotted at Allavaram and Antarvedi seashores in Ambedkar Konaseema district.
“Veterinary doctors from the animal husbandry department will perform a postmortem on the dolphin. The report will then be submitted to the district Collector,” said Kakinada assistant director of the fisheries department K Karunakar.