Dolphin found dying at Sansook Beach

PHUKET: Boys playing on Sansook Beach in Tambon Rassada found a female bottlenose dolphin dying yesterday evening. “She was still alive when the boys found her floating near the shoreline. They told us that they heard her cries first,” said Supoj Jantrapornsil, a technician at Phuket Marine Biological Center. The dolphin died on the beach not long afterwards. There was a cut about five centimeters deep around her tail. “It looks as though she had been dragged with a rope tied around her tail,” said K. Supoj. Bottlenose dolphins are common in the Andaman Sea. Usually, they travel in groups of 20 to 30. “This one might have become separated from its [pod]. “We are not sure, but it seems that she was either about to give birth or had recently given birth; there was a trace of milk around her nipples,” Khun Supoj told the Gazette. The dolphin weighed about 100 kilograms and was about 1.5 meters in length. The dead animal was taken to Phuket Marine Biological Center for further study.