Coastal fishermen found this year’s 17th dead Irrawaddy dolphin near the beach in Trat province Monday, with initial investigation pointing to trawlers being responsible.
Local residents of Ban Saphan Hin village in Laem Klad sub-district of Muang Trat district found the carcass of the female Irrawaddy dolphin close to the beach. There were no visible wounds on the 1.75-metre animal, but it was sunburned.
Local conservationists who examined it believe the dolphin died three days ago of suffocation due to a fishing net, as the dolphin's stomach and throat were full of fish, squids and prawns.
Thad Jitsathaporn, head of a dolphin-conservation group in Ban Saphan Hin village, said Tuesday that dolphins were usually found dead after the arrivals of paired trawlers in the Trat Bay.
He also complained that some governmental organisations had tried to prevent the deaths, but their proposals have not been seriously and consistently implemented, so protection remained unsuccessful.
Kritpas Srisaengkhajon, head of a network for the rescue of rare sea animals, said most Irrawaddy dolphins in the waters off Trat were indigenous and their existence is in crisis because birth rates were dropping while mortality was rising.
He warned that, under such conditions, Irrawaddy dolphins could be extinct in Trat. Irrawaddy dolphins are listed globally as "critically endangered," and their commercial trade is forbidden.