Three stranded dolphins were saved by the Marine Animal Rescue Network (MARN), but one died after being rescued from Laomei Beach in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) yesterday.
The Ocean Affairs Council’s MARN received a report saying that three dolphins were stranded on the beach yesterday morning, the council said in a statement yesterday.
Personnel from the Coast Guard Administration’s 2nd Patrol Command, which is based in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office, the Keelung Department of Economic Affairs, the Taiwan Cetacean Society, the council’s local office and Yehliu Ocean World rushed to the scene, it said.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The rescue team found an additional stranded dolphin on the beach when they arrived, it added.
The stranded animals were identified as three female and one male rough-toothed dolphins, or Steno bredanensis, it said.
Three of them were more than 2m in length and one was 1.8m long, which might be a calf of one of the other three, it said.
After evaluating that the dolphins were in stable condition, the council cooperated with National Taiwan University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and other units to prepare their release, it said.
Two ships transported the dolphins to the Patoutzu fishing port in Keelung, but the juvenile died during the journey, it said.
The other three dolphins were released at about 3pm, it added.
Rough-toothed dolphins can be found in pantropical and some temperate areas, and mainly live in waters not deeper than 1,000m or close to continental shelves, the statement said.
They have been spotted off Hsinchu, Taichung and Hualien, and incidents of them being stranded have been reported several times on the north, west and south coast, the statement said.
When spotting protected marine species in need of rescue, people should deal with the issue themselves without professional instructions for their own and the animals’ safety, it said.
People should call the 118 hotline or report to local authorities, and provide detailed information on the location, time and conditions of the animals to facilitate rescue work, the statement added.
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