BFAR Ilocos Norte calls for volunteers to save stranded dolphin
STRANDED. Volunteers take turns providing supportive care to a stranded dolphin on Thursday (May 1, 2025). The mammal was bruised when rescued early Wednesday along the coast of Barangay Pangil in Currimao, Ilocos Norte. (Photo from BFAR)
CURRIMAO, Ilocos Norte — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Ilocos Norte is looking for volunteers willing to help rehabilitate a stranded dolphin that washed ashore in this municipality on April 30.
As of Friday, the juvenile spotted dolphin, named “April,” is being rehabilitated in the shallow waters of Poblacion with a makeshift tent along the Currimao seawall.
Vanessa Abigail Dagdagan, provincial fishery officer, gave the information in a phone interview.
“April is in need of supportive care to help save her. She has lost her balance and no buoyancy since she was found by fisherfolk in Pangil beach,” Dagdagan said.
Based on an initial assessment conducted by Dr. Roco Gearhart of the Mariano Marcos State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the stranded mammal was found to have lesions on its rostrum and visible scratches across the body.
The dolphin also showed symptoms of diarrhea, dehydration and probably acoustic trauma.
Earlier Friday, Dagdagan reported that another dolphin about the same size as “April” was found dead along the Pangil shoreline.
A necropsy analysis is expected within the day to determine the cause of the mammal’s death, municipal agriculturist Erickson Biag said in a separate interview.
BFAR records showed that four marine animals had been stranded or beached in the coastal villages of Navotas and Caaoacan in Laoag City and Pangil, Currimao since March.
In a previous interview, Lemnuel Aragones, head of the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding Network, explained that marine animals washing ashore exhibiting good body conditions might indicate acute factors.
These factors include blastings, causing them to lose their acoustic sensors and swim straight until reaching the beach.
The Ilocos Region has been among the identified hotspots of dolphin and whale strandings in the past 15 years.
