West Bengal: Dolphin dies after being trapped in fishing net for two days

West Bengal: Dolphin dies after being trapped in fishing net for two days
Photo: Suman Mandal
Kolkata: A Bottlenose Dolphin died on Saturday after struggling for two days in a fishing net in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district village. Authorities said they did not have the required equipment or facilities to rescue it.

The dolphin’s body was found floating in canal water near Nituria village on Saturday, after it strayed from the sea into the Udbadal canal of East Midnapore district on Thursday afternoon, raising questions about the failure and negligence of forest department which could not rescue the animal in two days.

The dolphin had entered the canal from the sea in East Midnapore and got stuck in a fishing net. Hundreds of villagers assembled near the canal to take a look at the dolphin which might have scared the animal. The dolphin not only failed to return to the sea, but instead swam towards the village, deep into the canal. It died on Saturday after struggling for two days. Bottlenose dolphins are found in Digha sea in East Midnapore district of Bengal.

Local villagers found the body of the dolphin floating in the canal near Nituria village. Police at Bhupatinagar police station were alerted, which recovered the body of dolphin and took it to the police station.


A local villager said, “We saw the dolphin two days back. The animal was stuck in a fishing net and died today. Police has the body from the canal.”

On Thursday, people thronged to the canal, excited to see a dolphin in the village. The police said, “Many tried to catch the dolphin but the police and district forest department prevented them from attacking the dolphin.” However, police claimed that they tried to chase back the dolphin to the sea but failed.


The local forest officer said, “We do not have modern equipment to chase back or rescue a dolphin. It is sad that the animal got stuck in the fishing net and died.”