Halda dolphin died from injuries, says expert

He suspects the dolphin may have been beaten to death after getting trapped in a fishing net

Experts have identified the cause of death for the dolphin whose carcass was recovered from the Halda River in Chattogram.

A team from the Halda River Research Laboratory of the Chittagong University visited the site on Tuesday afternoon after the dolphin’s body was found earlier in the day.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Manjurul Kibria, coordinator of the Halda River Research Laboratory, said the dolphin had sustained severe injuries.

“The dolphin has large injury marks on both sides of its head. There were also signs of injury on the left side of the dorsal fin,” he said.

“It died three to four days ago. The cause of death is clearly the injury. We suspect the dolphin may have been beaten to death after getting trapped in a fishing net.”

According to Kibria, the dolphin measured 196cm in length and weighed 73.3kg. He identified it as an adult female.

Earlier in the day, Sub-Inspector Ramzan Ali of the river police outpost had said there were no visible injury marks on the dolphin’s body.