Thailand: Another dead dolphin washed up

Nucharee Rakrun Bangkok Post 20 Nov 14;

A dead dolphin has washed up on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Sichon district, and local residents are blaming a 10-kilometre oil slick that is floating along the shore.

Soldiers and local residents inspect the carcass of the dolphin found on a beach in Sichon district on Thursday. (Photo by Nucharee Rakrun)

Officials from the Southern Marine and Coastal Resources Centre in Songkhla, accompanied by soldiers, on Thursday examined the carcass of the dolphin on the beach in tambon Sichon of Sichon district.

The 3-metre-long dolphin, weighing over 200 kg, had head injuries. The cause of death was not clear.

Local resident Bamrungkiart Longji, 55, said he spotted the dead dolphin during his morning exercise on the beach. He said many people believed the dolphin might have been poisoned by ingesting oil from a slick floating off the beach.

In recent months at least 10 dolphins had been found dead on beaches in the southern province.

Pithak Boripit, chief of Sichon district, said the dead dolphin might have mistaken the oil slick for floating seaweed.

He said people were worried the 10-kilometre long oil slick, reported to comprise oil globules ranging in size from a ping-pong ball to a pomelo, was killing dolphins and other marine life.

Residents along the seashore in Khanom, Sichon, Tha Sala, Pak Phanang and Hua Sai districts say they see dolphins swimming in the sea almost every day. This is a drawcard for tourists, but the oil slick is chasing the tourists away.