A dead Irrawaddy dolphin washed up on the bank of the Ayeyawady River on Wednesday in Madaya, a town about 25 miles north of Mandalay.
“We received information that one Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead near Thonesepe village in Madaya Township in Mandalay Region. The cause of the death may have been due to old age, and it is assumed to have died on June 19,” an official from the township’s Department of Fisheries told Myanmar state media.
“No injuries were found on the body of the dolphin, but a fish was found in his stomach when we cut it open,” said U Thant Zin from the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Fisheries department officials, Wildlife Conservation Society staff, and other conservation professionals are now examining the carcass.
The dead dolphin was a male and measured just over six feet long. Experts who examined the body estimated that it was around 30 years old when it died.
Myanmar’s Irrawaddy dolphin population has been in a dangerous decline for years, with the known population dropping from 63 to 58 between 2014 and 2015. Electrofishing, boat propellers, and disappearing rivers are the main threats to the species.
In 2005, Myanmar’s Ministry of Fisheries set up a 46-mile protected area along the Ayeyawady River between Mingun and Kyaukmyaung. Electrofishing and certain kinds of nets that are dangerous to the dolphins are prohibited in the protected area, and fishers are required to release any dolphins they catch accidentally.
Nonetheless, not all fishermen adhere to these rules. A dead Irrawaddy dolphin was discovered in Singu Township at the end of April with its tail cut off, apparently by a boat propeller.
Conservationists argue that rather than being seen a nuisance or a target for fishers, Irrawaddy dolphins should be valued for their willingness to help humans fish in their habitat.
Check out a video of this threatened dolphin-human relationship below:
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