PEKAN: The carcass of an adult dolphin was found washed ashore at a beach near Kampung Serandu here yesterday.
State Fisheries department director Abdullah Jaafar said the department was alerted about the marine mammal carcass after a Facebook user uploaded images of the dead dolphin on the social media.
"The dolphin belonged to the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin species or its scientific name Sousa Chinensis. It was about 2.4 meters in length and weighed about 200 kilogramme.
"The decomposed carcass was believed to have died about a week ago and due to its condition, we could not identify its gender or the cause of death. After completing checks, the carcass was buried near the beach area," he said when contacted today.
He said no injuries were found on the dolphin and ruled out the possibility it was tangled in fishing nets.
"We cannot confirm if the dolphin died at sea before it was washed ashore. When the public spotted the animal, it was already dead," he said, adding the species was listed as endangered under the Fisheries Regulations (Control of Endangered Species of Fish) 2008.
The images of the carcass went viral on the social media after it was uploaded on the "Lensa Pekan" Facebook page yesterday before the department deployed a team to the beach area to conduct investigations.