The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Dolphins near Injambakkam surprise fishermen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Dolphins near Injambakkam surprise fishermen

By P. Oppili

CHENNAI, MARCH 11. A large group of dolphins swimming close to the shore surprised fisherfolk of suburban Injambakkam on Friday morning. The marine mammals were seen moving in the waters from Injambakkam towards Besant Nagar, they said.

According to Supraja Dharini, chairperson, Trust for Environment Education, Conservation and Community Development (TREE), M. Maran, a member of Sea Turtle Protection Force, functioning under the aegis of TREE, saw the dolphins jumping and moving in about 50 metres from the shoreline around 8-30 a.m. He immediately informed Ms. Dharini.

She, along with a few volunteers of the Turtle Protection Force, set to sea on a boat. The team sailed along with the dolphins and followed the marine mammal group for about 30 minutes. The mammals measured about seven feet in length, she said.

`Spinner dolphins'

K. Venkataraman, Member-Secretary, National Biodiversity Authority of India, said the species the fishermen sighted could be Spinner dolphins, which might have come to feed on tuna, a marine organism, found close to the shoreline.

They were slender creatures with a long thin-beak and a distinct stripe connecting the long and pointed flippers to the eyes. A well-grown Spinner dolphin could weigh up to 75 kilograms, he said. Spinner dolphins were found commonly in the tropical and sub-tropical oceans throughout the world, Dr. Venkataraman said. But, so far no study had been taken up about their population in the wild and their behaviour, he said.

Feed on squid, fish

The Spinner dolphins mainly feed on squid and fish and were known to swim along with whales and other species of dolphins, Dr. Venkataraman said. On an average one could see four to even 1,000 in a group.

Protected under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES), the Spinner dolphins faced threat due to use of gill net by the fishermen, say marine biologists. In the neighbouring coasts, the Spinner dolphins faced threat due to tuna, a marine organism, collection by the fishermen, which was not done on the Tamil Nadu coasts, Dr. Venkataraman said.

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