MARGAO: Wildlife activists have raised grave concerns over a recent spate of dolphin deaths and other marine species along Salcete’s beaches.
The outcry comes in the wake of several such incidents that have been reported across the State in the last two months alone. This disturbing trend follows on the heels of a similar series of dolphin strandings in February, which had prompted an uproar from conservationists previously too.
In this latest incident, while a dead porpoise was reported in Cavelossim on Tuesday, there were other incidents involving marine species too. On Wednesday, a dead turtle was found at Utorda.
“So much habitat is lost near the beach also. Terrestrial animals also are getting stranded at times,” lamented a wildlife activist.
The activist added that on Tuesday, a live Indian rock python stuck in the waves at Varca, was rescued by lifeguards and the Forest Department (FD) officials.
Sources confirmed that the rescue efforts involved getting the python out of the waves using a clean bin and that thereafter the FD rescuer took it to be released in an appropriate habitat.
The lifeguards were praised for reporting the incident early, like other such incidents, which helps with coastline monitoring.
In yet another incident, injured birds were found at Zalor beach. It may be recalled that a large number of sea birds were found injured on Salcete’s coastline in the last two months as well.
The activists allege that the State’s forest department has been ineffective in addressing the crisis, with one accusation that it has not been sharing adequate data on these incidents, which they feel is needed as it should not be about the optics but taking measures to address these issues.
There are urgent calls for increased monitoring, transparency and concrete conservation measures.
These activists referred to the present system of reporting and responding to the strandings and highlighted the need for a “long-term monitoring network and State-supported system”, specifically focused on the finless porpoise and Indian Ocean humpback dolphin - both globally endangered near-shore species that are accorded the highest legal protection in India.
They explained that the stranding reports are fielded through a State-wide marine wildlife network established in 2017 by the Forest Department in collaboration with organizations like Drishti Marine, Terra Conscious, IUCN India and more recently Reefwatch, which provides veterinary support.
However, they expressed dismay over what they described to be a lack of expedient action and data-sharing from authorities.
As one person lamented, “Reports come in regularly...like the decomposed whale carcass last night from Vagator. But even drivers of stranding need to be addressed for conservation action...not just reporting.”
They urged the Forest Department via the State government to build research capacity, awareness programmes and take the lead on this pressing issue.
According to these activists, post-mortems are conducted by the forest department, but accessing those details has proven to be challenging for them.
“The increasing number of dolphin deaths is a stark reminder of the urgent need for enhanced marine conservation efforts and better transparency from the authorities,” said environmentalist Renata Fernandes.
“It's not just dolphins; we’ve seen turtles and seabirds affected too. This calls for a broader look at our impact on marine ecosystems and immediate action to mitigate it,” Fernandes added.
They have also sought the view of experts like marine biologists to shed more light on these recurring incidents.