Dolphin carcass washed ashore at Agonda beach
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, MARCH 30
The carcass of a three-metre dolphin was washed ashore at Agonda beach on Tuesday evening.
It is learnt that the dolphin may have died a couple of days ago somewhere in the sea, before it got washed ashore on Tuesday evening, as it has already began to emanate foul smell.
Sources at the site told Herald that some fishermen had noticed the dead dolphin floating away in the sea early Tuesday morning.
Locals then alerted the village sarpanch, who in turn reportedly informed the Forests Department (Wildlife) office at Cotigao, as Agonda beach comes under Forest (wildlife) being a turtle nesting beach.
Some foreign tourists who show great interests to watch diving dolphins in Arabian Sea and even hire boats go in deep seas, on hearing the news, rushed to Agonda beach to watch the dead dolphin.
When asked to throw some light on the probable cause of death, a forest official present at the site said it cannot be ascertained but some visible damage to the dolphin’s ‘navel’ could very well be the reason for its death.
However, locals feared that the dolphin might have hit a motor boat’s fan, as some abrasions on its skin are visible.
Later in the evening, forest officials from Padi range reached the site and conducted panchanama in the presence of Agonda Sarpanch Jovi Fernandes and other locals, before burying the carcass a little ahead on the shore.
