Dozens of dolphins wash up on Pakistani beach

Reuters 6 Mar 09;

KARACHI (Reuters) - Dozens of dolphins washed up on a Pakistani beach on Friday to the amazement of villagers who frolicked with them in the shallows, but wildlife officials warned that mishandling the mammals could endanger them.

The dolphins came ashore at Gadani beach, about 40 km (25 miles) west of the city of Karachi, on the Arabian Sea.
"They were most probably pushed toward the beach by a high tide," wildlife official Hussain Baksh Bhagat told Express News television.

"We'll try to send these innocent animals back to sea as soon as possible as the longer they stay at the shore the more their lives will be at risk," he said.

Excited villagers picked up the animals to pose for television cameras while men pulled some by the their tails through the surf.

Some boys tried riding dolphins in knee-deep water.

"This is dangerous for the dolphins. It could create stress and lead to heart failure," wildlife expert Ghulam Akbar told the Samaa television channel.

Hours after the animals first came ashore most had returned to sea but about six were still trapped, witnesses told television channels.

(Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Robert Birsel)