Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hundreds of Dolphins trapped in the Philippines

Hundreds of Dolphins trapped in the Philippines



Last week hundreds of dolphins were trapped near the coast of Bataan province in the Philippines. At least three dolphins, one of them pregnant, were found dead. :(
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, an estimated of 400 to 500 dolphins were trapped. It was the first time that such a huge number of dolphins have beached themselves.


Two possible reasons for the occurrence:
1. A strong sea quake may have damaged the dolphins' eardrums while they were diving for food.
Once their eardrums are injured, they would lose their sense of direction and they would become disoriented. Because of this, they cannot dive for food anymore resulting in a situation where they become weak with hunger and they just go with the current.

2. School of dolphins was following a sick leader that may have beached itself.

It was something unusual that for the first time such a large pack of dolphins entered Manila Bay, Philippines, and it’s really acting strangely. Thanks to our fishermen and volunteers, with their help the dolphins have been able to successfully guide most, if not all, back to the open sea, as search and rescue vessels of the Coast Guard continue to patrol the area.

2 comments:

iceah said...

so sad for the 3 dolphins but i wish I was there to see it was a wonder for everybody right c; saw this also in the news c:

Glenda is the name. =) said...

wow, thats very unusual to see TONS of dolphins in the philippines.. so cool but at the same time i feel bad for them. yikes!