THE Esplanade in George Town is better known for joggers, evening breezes and the occasional tourist posing for a photograph with the Penang coastline behind them.
On Thursday (July 23), visitors to the waterfront found something considerably more unexpected on the beach.
Was an endangered dolphin found washed ashore at Penang's Esplanade?
Verdict:
TRUE
The carcass of an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin was found washed ashore along the beach near the Esplanade on Thursday.
Penang Fisheries Department director Azimah Jumatli said the department received a report on the stranded marine mammal before officers from its Conservation and Fisheries Protection Division were dispatched to the scene.
"An inspection confirmed that the carcass was an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), measuring about 2.4m in length and weighing approximately 150kg," said Azimah in a statement posted on the department's social media page.
The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with populations under pressure from habitat loss, water pollution, vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear across their range in the coastal waters of South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific.
Personnel from the North-East District Civil Defence Force assisted the Fisheries Department in handling and disposing of the carcass.
Azimah thanked the Civil Defence Force for its cooperation throughout the operation and expressed appreciation to members of the public who promptly alerted the authorities.
She urged the public to continue reporting any sightings of stranded endangered marine mammals in Penang waters to enable the department to respond swiftly.
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