KARACHI: Amid crowds of people anxious to touch and take a picture of the dolphin that got stranded in the shallow waters at the Clifton beach on Saturday, a group of volunteers continued their efforts till sunset to rescue the animal in distress and release it back into the deep sea.

It was reportedly a healthy spinner dolphin with no injury mark.

“I literally have to shout at people to stop them from touching the poor animal desperate to find its way out. We should help it return to its habitat and not harass it as stress can cause its death,” said Shoaib Abdul Razzaq of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P).

Mr Razzak was the only staff member of his organisation to reach the spot and contribute his bit to rescue the marine mammal. He was helped by a group of volunteers.

“While we try to take it into the deep sea, intense waves bring it back near the shore,” he explained, adding that he had been on the spot for more than an hour and would stay till dark.

Volunteers tried to take the dolphin into the deep sea but intense waves pushed it back to shore

To a question whether he got training in such rescue operations, he replied in the negative.

“Though I have had interactions with dolphins before, I haven’t been part of such a rescue work before,” he said, adding that he trained fishermen at sea in rescuing endangered species.

A better option for rescue might have been releasing the dolphin into the deep water with the help of a boat but this was a far-fetched idea in the present conditions, he said.

On the identification of the species, Mohammad Moazzam Khan, associated with WWF-P as a technical adviser on marine resources, said that it seemed to be an adult spinner dolphin.

“Usually, dolphins and whales get stranded when they enter shallow waters, which confuse the echolocation mechanism used by these species to find their way around,” he said, adding that dolphins travelled in groups and this individual seemed to have got separated from its pod.

“Dolphins are a sensitive creature. Their disorientation often causes their death [due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole] and it’s a challenge to return them to their habitat,” he said.

On any past dolphin/s’ stranding, he recalled that there was a mass stranding of about 100 dolphins in Gadani about 10 years back. The community managed to rescue all except three.

“A local social worker, Lal Bibi, played a pivotal role in the Gadani rescue operation and the WWF-P acknowledged her service through an award,” Mr Khan said.

Beautiful spins

The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a small dolphin found in offshore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it spins along its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air.

A member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales, spinners have a long thin snout and can spin multiple times in one leap, which can be nearly 10 feet high.

They are the most common dolphins found in Pakistan’s waters, home to about 18 dolphin species.

The most serious threat faced by cetaceans is the heavily-polluted water with traces of heavy metals by the ship-breaking industry. Other threats include falling fish stocks (less food available), the silting of rivers because of dwindling mangrove forests, the growth of toxic algae and the presence of rubbish and plastic bags in the sea, which could prove fatal for whales and dolphins as well as turtles.

According to the National Geographic website, the leaping and spinning of these dolphins likely serves several purposes, including the removal of irksome remoras, fish that latch on to eat parasites.

Biologists also think the dolphins use their moves to communicate, each one signalling something different: “Let’s go” or “Danger!” or “I find you attractive.”

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2019