Ocean Sentry
(From gmanews.tv) A dolphin which washed ashore in Bulacan about two weeks ago died over the weekend due to plastic products she ate near Bulacan shores.
The said dolphin – a female Risso”s dolphin (grampus griseus) – was found by a fisherman in Bulakan town trapped among mangrove rots of the Matilakin village on June 20.
Dr. Lemuel Aragones – an OAP consultant and an associate professor at the University of the Philippines’ Institute of the Environmental Science and Meteorology who had named the Risso’s dolphin “Rissa” – said she died over the weekend despite treatment at an intensive care unit designed for her rehabilitation.
He said that the cause of death was due to occlusion (obstruction or closure of a passageway) caused by plastic products in the dolphin’s stomach.
Aragones also said that there was a possibility that the dolphin was searching for food and ate what was available in the area which turned out to be plastic products which moves like a jelly fish or squid underwater.
He said that after Rissa died, they conducted a necropsy and found plastics in her stomach.
