Bangkok Post 14 Aug 10;
TRANG : Two humpback dolphins were returned to the sea yesterday after police saved them from being transported to a zoo in Chon Buri on Wednesday.Villagers of Ban Ta Se in Hat Samran district gathered to witness the release of the dolphins.
The ceremony was presided over by Trang governor Maitri Intusud and Marine and Coastal Resources Department deputy chief Prawim Wutthisin.
The dolphins, about two metres long, were caught illegally off Trang's coast and transported in a van to Chon Buri.
Highway police stopped the car for inspection when it reached Chumphon's Muang district on Aug 11.
Three men - Sompis Niemkert, Manit Mathuna, and Nathapong Niemkert - admitted they were hired by an owner of a zoo in Chon Buri to catch dolphins and bring them for display there, according to police.
Inquiries are continuing into the involvement of the zoo.
A dolphin conservation group in Ban Ta Se says the episode has shown it needs to stay alert for illegal catches off tambon Ta Se's coast, home to many types of dolphins.
The area has about 130 bottlenose, humpback and Irrawaddy dolphins, said group chairman Tawan Tuionn.
In Surat Thani, a female dugong has beached on a shore in Chaiya district, according to officials.
Locals suspect the dugong was trapped in a fisherman's net and wounded. It was found dead on the beach.
The sea off Surat Thani's coast is home to a dwindling number of dugongs.
Four of them have been found dead in the province in recent years, said Arun Samyam, of the marine and coastal resources research centre in Chumphon.
