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Posted

Dolphin returned to the wild

SURAT THANI: -- After undergoing five months of treatment for a deep cut and lung inflammation, a two-year-old humpback dolphin was released back into the sea yesterday in Surat Thani after making a complete recovery. Officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources along with staff from various animal conservation groups took the dolphin from its nursing pond at the Samui Aquarium to return it to the sea about five kilometres off the coast of Don Sak.

The department's Wutthichai Janekarn said the dolphin was washed ashore on Koh Samui and rescued by fishermen on Sept 23 last year.

It had a deep cut to its abdomen and had developed lung inflammation.

It could not remain near the surface of the ocean and was unable to eat.

After staying five months at Samui Aquarium, the dolphin fully regained its health.

Called ''Jessie'' by the staff, the female dolphin, which weighs 70kg and measures 1.5m, is described as being ''playful and friendly''.

Veterinarian Sonthaya Manawatthana, from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, said a ribbon was tied to the dolphin's tail to help officials monitor its behaviour.

Pornsak Sakthani, Surat Thani deputy fisheries officer, said the area used by dolphins for feeding covered the Ang Thong archipelago and Don Sak in Surat Thani and Kanom in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

--Bangkok Post 2006-02-13

Posted

Sorry chaps not such good news after all, I read an article in today's on-line Bangkok post in "Postbag" (sorry can't paste in link having probs with PC) :o

Anyway, this is my 1st posting so hello to you all.......

Posted

Here you go........not good at all I'm afraid.....

POSTBAG

Misadventures of a dolphin

Re: the Bangkok Post article on Feb 13, "Dolphin returned to the wild". We read the story on the dolphin's release with great surprise. The facts are completely misleading. The at least 12-year-old dolphin (and not 2-year-old as reported), was caught by fishermen and not rescued in September 2005.

After various complaints by our organisation to the Fisheries Department, we were able to negotiate its release after almost three months. The owner of the resort, who kept the dolphin in a small turtle pool in the beginning (and not a nursing pond), was all that time not willing to return the dolphin, and there are grounds to suspect that the dolphin was actually caught in order to perform shows for tourists at the resort, which also houses sea lions and tigers for shows with tourists.

The dolphin was trained on a daily basis to jump hoops and clap its fins. The deep cuts to its body mentioned in the article were actually small scratches inflicted by the fishing nets during the capture. Pneumonia is a common side effect of stress due to the capturing and was treated within three days.

Officials of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) advised in October to have the dolphin released immediately. The dolphin's length was 2 meters 20, and it weight was 92 kilos - far larger than mentioned in the article. The complete rescue operation started at 5:00am on Saturday and the dolphin was released 35 kilometers off the island of Samui around 10:00am. The rescue operation was a joint operation of DMCR and the rescue unit of the Wildlife Friends of Thailand, with assistance of Care for the Wild International. According the officials of the DMCR there are only about 400 individuals of this dolphin species still in Thailand in the wild.

EDWIN WIEK

Director and Founder

Wildlife Friends of Thailand

Wildlife and Marine Rescue Unit

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