A dead, half-decomposed dolphin of the porpoise species, seven feet long and two feet wide, has washed ashore at Kuakata sea beach in Patuakhali.

Members of the Dolphin Protection Committee spotted it at the beach's Majhi Bari point on Tuesday evening (the report gives the date as 3 March). They then informed the forest department and BlueGuard.

KM Bachchu, a member of the Dolphin Protection Committee, said the dolphin may have died three to four days earlier. Much of its skin had peeled off and the lower part of its belly had split open. It is suspected that it was killed by the nets of deep-sea fishermen.

Sagarika Smriti, assistant biodiversity researcher at WorldFish (ECOFISH), said: "Dolphins mainly live by eating various species of fish. They may come towards the shore along with the fish, because most fish species come close to the coast to spawn at this time. But we are worried by these dolphin deaths one after another. The mystery of the deaths needs to be solved."

Tariqul Islam, assistant conservator of forests at the Patuakhali district forest department, said forest workers had been told to bury the dead dolphin, and higher authorities had been informed so that the cause of death can be found.

This makes seven dead dolphins washed up on the beach so far this year.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.