TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Risso’s dolphin was found stranded on Xuhai Beach in Mudan Township, Pingtung County, at around 11 a.m. Sunday.
The Marine Animal Rescue Network received a report from the Coast Guard Administration’s Eighth Patrol Area Command about the dolphin, according to the Ocean Conservation Administration. Coast Guard personnel arrived at 12:16 p.m., confirmed the animal was alive, and carried out emergency measures, including righting the dolphin and keeping it wet.
National Cheng Kung University Marine Biology and Cetacean Research Center professor Wang Hao-wen (王浩文) initially identified the animal as an elderly Risso’s dolphin. It measured approximately 2.8 meters in length and 50 centimeters in width, and appeared weak.
With help from a National Cheng Kung University rescue team, the Ocean Conservation Administration’s Pingtung service station transported the dolphin to the cetacean research center for medical treatment and further evaluation.
The Ocean Conservation Administration urged the public to immediately call the Coast Guard hotline at 118 or notify local authorities if they find stranded protected marine wildlife such as cetaceans or sea turtles. People are advised not to crowd around, touch, or attempt to push the animals back into the sea, so that professional rescue teams can provide timely and appropriate assistance, it said.
