THOOTHUKUDI : A pod of close to 45 dolphins washed ashore near Punnakayal village, located 30 km away from Thoothukudi town, on Monday. While many of the dolphins were alive, as many as four were dead, according to local sources.
Sources said that each of the dolphins that washed ashore at the Punnakayal beach on Monday evening after dusk weighed at least 100 kilos. The villagers on noticing this immediately tended to the dolphins and tried to put them back into the sea, but the dolphins adamantly returned to the shore again, sources who witnessed the incident said. Four of the dolphins had reportedly died on the shore, sources further said.
On receiving the information, forest officials attached to the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve and the State Forest Department, reached the spot and are investigating into the incident.