IPOH, Aug 7 — The Perak Fisheries Department will send a team to investigate the authenticity of a viral claim regarding the discovery of an Irrawaddy dolphin carcass at Ban Pecah, Tanjung Piandang, today.
Its director, Mohd Ghazali A. Manap, said it had yet to receive any official complaint regarding the discovery of the marine mammal, and only became aware of the incident after a 27-second video went viral on social media.
“A team from the Kuala Kurau Fisheries Office was sent to the location this morning to confirm whether the marine mammal carcass is still there or whether the video is an old recording.
“If the dolphin carcass is found, we will collect it and conduct a post-mortem at the Fisheries Research Centre to determine the cause of death. After that, the carcass will be preserved so that its skeleton can be kept as a specimen,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
On Tuesday (August 4), the video showing the discovery of the marine mammal carcass was shared on Instagram and attracted the attention of netizens, with many expressing concern over the condition of marine life in the waters there.
Elaborating on the discovery of the dolphin carcass, Mohd Ghazali said that based on observations from the video, the marine mammal was estimated to be about two metres long and between seven and nine years old.
He added that the discovery of the species in the area was not unusual as the waters are among the routes used by the marine mammals in search of food.
“The mammal’s actual identity cannot be determined based only on the video recording, but requires further examination of the actual specimen.
“If just based on records, the mammal can grow to a maximum length of about three metres, has a lifespan of up to 30 years and usually reaches maturity between seven and nine years of age,” he said. — Bernama
