UP researcher urges BFAR to create action plan for conservation of dolphins in Bicol

A researcher from the University of the Philippines Diliman is urging the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to create an action plan for the conservation of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Bicol region.

The highly-endangered animal was discovered for the first time in Bicol waters last year when a young female died after getting entangled in a fishing net in San Miguel Bay.

Last week, a team of researchers from UP Diliman College of Science conducted a survey and located two live Irrawaddy dolphins. One was sighted near Apuao Island and another near Canimog Island in the waters of Mercedes, Camarines Norte.

"I already talked with BFAR5 Regional Director Ariel Pioquinto about enhancing San Miguel Bay again to ensure the Irrawaddy dolphins' habitat," said Dr. Lemnuel Aragones, head of the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Laboratory. "We hope to harmonize local ordinances with existing national laws regarding protected species."

Irrawaddy dolphins are among the world's most endangered dolphin species, indicated as critically endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) also considers them critically endangered.

"These dolphins prefer brackish waters, making the San Miguel Bay area an ideal place for the Irrawaddy dolphins to thrive, with its shallow depth, a wide range of salinities, and presence of nearby offshore islands," Aragones said.

"It is most likely that the Irrawaddy dolphins are using the offshore islands in the San Miguel Bay as a refuge area and that there is now probably much less food for them there since it is one of the most over-exploited fishing grounds in the country," he added.

Irrawaddy dolphins are characterized by gray or dark-blue backs and pale bellies and have a high tolerance to various salinity levels that enable them to live in areas where salty seawater and freshwater meet, such as in the mouths of rivers and bays.

Aside from San Miguel Bay in Bicol, other populations of these dolphins can be found in the Malampaya Sound in Palawan and the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait.

—Sherylin Untalan/MGP, GMA Integrated News