A 10-foot-long Irrawaddy dolphin carcass washed ashore on Kuakata beach in Patuakhali on Thursday.
Kuakata Dolphin Protection Committee member Abul Hossain Raju spotted the dolphin at Mirabari Point on Kuakata beach and later buried it there.
Abul Hossain said: “The Bay of Bengal is somewhat turbulent now. I saw the dolphin carcass floating ashore with the waves. The skin of the dolphin was torn out. It looked like it died two or three days ago. Later I inform the forest department and eco-fish organization.”
Sagarika Smriti, the associate researcher of the EcoFish-2 Bangladesh Project of WorldFish, a research institute working on the blue ocean economy, coastal environment, and biodiversity, said: “This dolphin appears to have died two or three days ago. Marine life is dying due to the destruction of the marine environment. We are investigating why this happens every year.”
Sagarika urged everyone, including fishermen, to help protect these sea creatures.
Ruman Imtiaz Tushar, team leader of the Kuakata Dolphin Protection Committee, said: “As soon as we received the information, our members, with the help of the Forest Department and Blue Guard, made arrangements to bury the dolphin in a safe place.
“We are working on this matter and have asked higher authorities to determine the causes of this death,” he added.
Abul Kalam Azad, Mahipur Range Officer of the Forest Department, said that he was informed by the Dolphin Protection Committee. They are sending their members to quickly cover the area with soil to prevent the smell from spreading.