By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Lumba Project, a marine conservationist group, revealed an Irrawaddy dolphin, an endangered species, died last week in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.
“It is with great regret that we announce that the dead Irrawaddy dolphin that [was] stranded last July 9, 2019 was identified to be one of our most frequently sighted individuals,” the group said on social media.
This was the second Irrawaddy dolphin death in the area this year since January, bringing the local population down to 11.
The dolphin, which was tagged as N-15 by the group, was previously found stranded in the town’s Barangay Zone 1A.
“This severe mortality pushes the Guimaras Strait population closer to extinction,” the Lumba Project acknowledged. “While we are racing against time to save the last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins, we need better science to help us determine the causes of these mortalities.”
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Irrawaddy dolphins are found across Southeast Asia and considered endangered.
The organization identified one of the major threats to the animal is bycatch, when fish or other marine species are unintentionally caught by fishing operations.
WWF conducts at least two population surveys a year for Irrawaddy dolphins along the Mekong River, which has a population of around 92 dolphins./DGB, WDJ