1 more dead dolphin washes ashore Mumbai’s beach, fourth in one month

Forest officials said the carcass was decomposed and could not be sent for an autopsy to find the cause of death

Yet another dead dolphin has washed ashore on Mumbai’s beaches. This time it was the carcass of a six-foot-long Indian Ocean humpback dolphin that appeared on Juhu beach on Monday.

Local residents said the carcass was found covered with discarded plastic. (STATE FOREST DEPARTMENT)

This makes it the fourth such case in the last one month, the 10th this year and 91st since 2016.

Forest officials said the carcass was decomposed and could not be sent for an autopsy to find the cause of death. “Our team buried the carcass at the beach itself. The dolphin might have died a while back at sea but the number of cases has been too many this month,” said Prashant Deshmukh, range forest officer (west), state mangrove cell.

Local residents said the carcass was found covered with discarded plastic. “It seemed like plastic might have got stuck in the dolphin’s body as well that could have led to its death,” said Amir Fasal, a resident of Vile Parle who was at the beach when the dolphin washed ashore.

On Friday, an eight-foot dolphin of the same species had washed ashore at Girgaum Chowpatty. Earlier this month, two dolphin carcasses washed ashore near Chimbai Beach on July 11 and Bandra Bandstand on July 12.

HT had reported on July 16 that post-mortem results from cases earlier this year revealed three dolphins had died due to respiratory infection.

“Pollution along coastal waters is definitely playing a strong role in deteriorating the habitat of these marine mammals. We have raised the issue with the municipal corporation as well,” said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forest, state mangrove cell.