Dolphin, porpoise carcasses wash up on Mumbai coast, 12th marine animal death this year

With this, the number of marine animal deaths around the Mumbai coastline becomes 12 this year and 93 since 2016

Carcasses of a baby dolphin and a finless porpoise washed ashore at Bandra Bandstand on Saturday morning, taking the number of marine animal deaths around the Mumbai coastline to 12 this year and the 93 since 2016. The porpoise was three feet long and the juvenile Indian Ocean humpback dolphin was a two-and-a-half feet long.

The porpoise (above) was three feet long and the juvenile Indian Ocean humpback dolphin was a two-and-a-half feet long. (HT Photo)

The mangrove cell of the state’s forest department said the carcasses were spotted by fishermen around 6am and a team reached the site by 7.30am. “Preliminary analysis of the carcasses showed that the porpoise had died at least two weeks ago while the dolphin died recently. Post-mortems for both marine animals were carried out on Saturday itself. However, the results will be declared later next week,” said Prashant Deshmukh, range forest officer (west), state mangrove cell.

Last month, HT reported that the autopsy reports of two dolphin carcasses from earlier this year indicated their deaths were caused by “respiratory infection”, which the state claims is the first conclusive evidence for deaths along the Mumbai coastline. Marine experts had suspect the polluted coastal waters may have caused such infections.

The Maharashtra forest department will begin a five-year-long study in November this year to understand the distribution, population, behaviour and threats to marine mammals from noise along the state’s coastline, which HT had reported earlier this month. “The rise in deaths is alarming, but we hope that the five-year study will help understand these marine animals better,” said N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell.