MANGALURU: Of late, a harrowing sight has been greeting visitors to the beaches of Dakshina Kannada now and then — decaying carcasses of dolphins or turtles. On Saturday, two more dead dolphins washed ashore at Chitrapura beach between Mukka and Surathkal, and on Monday, another carcass was found there.
The number of dolphin carcasses found along the Dakshina Kannada coastline has risen to four while the number of dead turtles - mostly leatherbacks - has touched five so far in the last two months. Local fishermen are apprehensive that the marine animals died due to oil spills, but experts have ruled out this possibility.
In the afternoon of May 14, carcasses of a turtle and a dolphin have washed ashore at Guddekopla beach near Surathkal. Another sea turtle was also found dead at Hosabettu beach around the same time that day. On May 27, Briau Royston, a photographer shooting at Surathkal beach near NITK, spotted a dead turtle.
Concerned at the gentle marine species dying on the beaches, he urged the district administration and elected representatives to take up the marine pollution issue seriously.
Starting from April, there were incidents of oil slicks being washed along the coastline. The district administration has clarified that previous studies conducted along the Western Coast found this was normal considering the fact that a lot of crude oil transport happens there.
Deputy Director of Fisheries, D Thippeswamy said the department has taken up issue with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Mangaluru. “The department is also closely following the matter,” he added.
Prathiba Rohit, head of CMFRI, said dolphins and turtles have been washed ashore in a highly decomposed condition. “If there was oil spill in the sea, not just dolphins, it should have affected a lot of other fishes too,” she said.
“These dolphins could have died away from the shore and were washed ashore in a highly decomposed state. We are investigating the cause of death of these marine species,” she said. But for fisherman leader Vasudeva Boloor, the real reason dolphins and turtles are dying is because of marine pollution.
“It is evident from our experience that marine pollution, especially oil spills, is killing marine life. It is also evident from the dwindling catch by our traditional fishermen who fish near the shore,” said a fisherman leader. The fishermen have submitted a petition to the district administration and local politicians to act on oil spills and protect marine life.
Another dolphin washes ashore
Even as officials are studying the reasons for the death of dolphins and turtles along the coast, one more dolphin washed ashore dead at Sashidhulu beach on Monday. Unlike the previous dolphins whose carcasses were decayed, this one was fresh with blood oozing out of its nose and a cut injury to its tail.
Environmentalist Sashidhar Shetty of National Environment Care Federation said these are not random dolphin or turtle deaths in the last few years. “The industrial units along the coast are polluting the marine ecology while officials pay no heed,” he rued.