DAGUPAN CITY - Following the death of a more than 10-foot long rare Rissos dolphin caught by fishermen from San Fabian last week, an awareness campaign on how to properly handle beached cetaceans will soon be conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources along the coastal areas of the Lingayen Gulf.

Dr. Westly Rosario, interim director of the BFAR’s National Fisheries Research Technology Development Institute, said the campaign would be waged using the protocol for the proper handling of cetaceans developed by thte Ocean Adventure of Subic.

Ocean Adventure is a private international company that manages an ocean park at Subic whose main attractions are flying dolphins.

After learning Tuesday night that a beached dolphin was being treated at the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center in Dagupan City, marine biologists of Ocean Adventure called up Rosario to volunteer their suggestions on how to take care of the mammal.

Unfortunately, the more than one-ton dolphin with an unhealed bullet wound near its mouth died the next day while inside a 16-ton capacity water tank where it was being treated and monitored round-the-clock.

Rosario said his brief talk with marine biologists of Ocean Adventure nevertheless bore result as they agree to help the BFAR disseminate their protocol designed for the proper handling of cetaceans (a mamalian order that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises).

The protocol will be presented during a seminar in San Fabian town in connection with the observance of the fish conservation week from Oct 15 to 21 to be attended by fishermen of San Fabian and representatives of other local government units along the coast of Lingayen Gulf.

Rosario said the protocol include suggestions on how to handle the cetaceans, how to manage it while inside the tank, how to transport it or even lift it and more particularly, on how to administre anti-biotics and other treatment on the mammals.

For instance, he said, the protocol suggests the use of a stretcher when lifting the cetacean from the water to shore.

Dr. Rosario lamented that it is the usual practice of the uninformed fishermen to merely tie the mammal’s tail with a rope and tag it along the shore by motorboat which is vey stressful.

In the case of the Rissos Dolphin brought to the NIFTDC by fishermen, Rosario revealed he did not know the trauma suffered by the mammal when it was caught and transported to the NIFTDC which is about 10 kilometers away.

The Rissos Dolphin was the 15th cetacean that died after it was brought to NIFTDC for treatment of their wounds, thus making the protocol developed by Ocean Adventure the more necessary.

Rosario believed that some cetaceans may have died due to the improper handling by fishermen prior to bringing the mammals to NIFTDC.

“We will start with the fishermen of San Fabian first, and then we go to other coastal towns of the Lingayen Gulf so our fishermen will be more informed on how to handle cetaceans,” he said.

The cetaceans belong to the threatened, endangered and near extinct species of fish. (PNA)