An officer from SFC examines the carcass of a Finless Porpoise washed ashore and found dead at Piasau Beach.
MIRI: The marine mammal that was washed ashore and found dead at Piasau Beach near here late Thursday evening is a Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides).
In a statement issued yesterday, Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) said that their Park Warden at Piasau Nature Reserve (PNR) was notified of the discovery of the dead mammal by the workers of Piasau Boat Club that evening.
“Our officers at PNR raced to the location shortly after they received the report and conducted a physical examination which later found the carcass to belong to a male juvenile dolphin measuring 1.34 metres long.”
Preliminary examination also discovered that it suffered no injuries and appeared not to be emaciated. However, scratches and net markings visible at the head region, areas near its tail fin and flipper suggest that the dolphin was entangled in a net and later drowned.
The carcass of the Finless Porpoise was buried at Piasau Nature Reserve. The species is protected under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1998 and also listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red list of threatened species.