CANBERRA, Mar 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Experts shared fears about the dolphin population in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) after two individuals washed up dead.
Jason Fowler, a dolphin scientist from the Environment Centre NT, found a humpback dolphin calf dead, on Casuarina Beach in the capital city of Darwin’s northern suburbs, over the weekend.
It was the second dolphin found washed up on the beach, in as many weeks.
Fowler recently told News Corp Australia that, the calf showed no signs of injury, prompting major concerns about the health of dolphins, off the coast of the NT.
Three species of coast-dwelling dolphins are prominent in Darwin harbour — Australian snubfin, Australian humpback and coastal bottlenose.
Fowler said, the population’s health was deteriorating, as a result of “undue harm” from increasing noise and water pollution in the area.
“I have no doubt (that) in 10 years’ time, you won’t be able to find a dolphin in Darwin harbour,” he said.
A 2018 study from the NT Government Environment Department revealed that, the number of humpback dolphins in the harbour fell from 42 in 2011, to 26 in 2016, but did not identify the cause.
In the wider Darwin area, the population of the three dolphin species fell from 148 to 97.– NNN-AGENCIES
