Malaysia: Pink dolphins sighted in Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve

Manjit Kaur The Star 23 Aug 11;

THE Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) is not surprised that pink dolphins were spotted in Malaysia recently but hoped the authorities could do more to make the environment more conducive for the animal.

MNS head of communications Andrew J. Sebastian said there were about 19 species of dolphins sighted in Malaysia.

Recently it was reported that pink dolphins were spotted at the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve.

They have been seen near the fishing village of Kuala Tangga.

Sebastian said dolphins came in different shapes and colours like pink, dark grey, blue, black, white, cream white and grey.

“Many dolphins can be seen in the waters in Langkawi, Sabah and Sarawak. But if they are comfortable with the waters they can swim anywhere and anytime,” he told MetroPerak.

Sebastian said if indeed the pink dolphins were spotted at the forest reserve, they were most likely the Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins, also known as sousa chinesis, adding that it has a stocky body and long and a well defined beak.

He said dolphins had also been spotted at Sungai Sepang, which is about 5km away from the KL International Airport.

A search on the Internet about the pink dolphins revealed that these species were found in tropical and temperate coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans from northern Australia and southern China in the east, through Indonesia, and around the coastal rim of the Indian Ocean to southern Africa.

They are known to enter rivers, estuaries and mangroves.

They prefer shallow waters about 20m in depth with warm temperatures between 15 and 36 degrees Celsius.