Dead porpoise found on Sittwe Beach

By DMG 06 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
6 July 2022, Sittwe

A male porpoise was found dead on Sittwe Beach in the Arakan State capital on Tuesday evening, according to the head of the Sittwe District Fisheries Department, U Oo Tun Thein.

Department personnel buried it at the beach on Wednesday morning, he told DMG.

“Last night, Shwe Yaung Metta charity phoned and told us about it. However, as it was already dead, we did not go to the beach [that night] for security reasons. We went to bury it this morning. According to our examination, it died of old age,” said U Oo Tun Thein.

The porpoise measured 10 feet in length. The department is making further examinations to find out which species it belongs to.

There are more than 40 species of porpoises, dolphins and whales in waters off the Myanmar coast, several of which are endangered, said a marine biologist who did not want to be named.

“Porpoises are mammals, and they have births like humans. Females give birth to one young at a time, and very rarely two at a time. And they are friendly to humans,” said the marine scientist.

That friendliness can sometimes be deadly, as porpoises and dolphins are known to approach boats, occasionally resulting in lethal encounters with hulls or propellers.

Efforts are being made in some parts of Myanmar to protect dolphins and porpoises, but systematic conservation efforts have not yet been made in Arakan State, marine scientists say.