25 dolphins stranded on Camarines Sur beach

DEL GALLEGO, Camarines Sur - Twenty-five dolphins got stranded on the beach in Barangay Magais 1 in Del Gallego, Camarines Sur before dawn on Tuesday.

Residents saw the dolphins, identified as Fraser's dolphins, past 3 a.m. and informed the local government.

A dolphin lies on the beach in Barangay Magais 1, Del Gallego, Camarines Sur before dawn on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Twenty-five dolphins were found on the beach, with five already lifeless and the rest still alive but weak and wounded.  PEEWEE BACUÑO

According to a report of Unang Balita on GMA News, 10 of the dolphins died and bore wounds. However, a later update showed the death toll rose to 13.

The rest of the dolphins were weak but still alive, and were also wounded.

Residents at first tried to lure the dolphins near the shore back to the deeper part of the sea.

However as low tide came in, the dolphins were seen stranded on the beach and in the mangrove.

Local authorities went to the site in response.

Nonie Enolva, team leader of Bicol Regional Fisheries Emergency Stranding Response Team of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said external examination on the dolphins showed they bore wounds from dynamite explosion.

Dynamite fishing is said to be rampant in Ragay Gulf.

Tuesday's incident is the first such mass stranding of dolphins this year.

Authorities appealed to fishermen near Ragay Gulf to abandon the use of dynamites in fishing.

They also appealed to residents to report any such incident of dynamite fishing.

The dolphins will be subjected to necropsy at the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding Network on Wednesday. —Peewee Bacuño/KG, GMA News