Mumbai: Dolphin washes ashore in Versova

Yet another dolphin washed ashore on Versova beach on Thursday. The 2.25-metre-long dolphin with a one-metre girth was found in a decomposed condition making it impossible to conduct a postmortem.

Yet another dolphin washed ashore on Versova beach on Thursday. The 2.25-metre-long dolphin with a one-metre girth was found in a decomposed condition making it impossible to conduct a postmortem. According to Afroz Shah, who spotted the dead dolphin on the beach, this is the fourth incident of beaching in the last 40 days. “We have so far witnessed the beaching of three dolphins and one turtle in 40 days. In the last three years we have not seen any beaching incident. Something terribly wrong is going on in the sea and it needs to be studied,” said the activist, who has been actively cleaning the beach.

However, Mangrove Cell officials, who were present at the beach on Thursday to bury it, said it was a common occurrence during monsoon.

“Incidents of beaching are known to happen during the monsoon. The reporting of such incidents have increased as the awareness in this regard has improved,” said Prashant Deshmukh, Range Forest Officer, western region.
Marine experts have also raised concerns due to the regular spotting of marine animals on the beach.

“It is true that the incidents do increase during the monsoon as the winds bring the dead species to the shore. But it has only been two days since the monsoon began. We can say the deaths are happening due to pollution but both dolphins and turtles breathe air outside water. It could be that they are being hit by the propellers of a boat, but that needs to be examined. Sometimes these dead creatures also get stuck in the fishing nets and the fishermen throw them out before coming to the shore as they can get prosecuted if they bring them to the shore. These sometimes wash on to the shore. But a study is needed to determine the cause of these frequent beaching,” said Vinay Deshmukh, marine biologist and former chief scientist of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).

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