KUALA NERUS (Bernama): Fourteen-year-old Ahmad Nasrul Hazim Ahmad Rahimi had a shock on Saturday (Dec 14) when he discovered a dead dolphin at the Tanjung Gelam beach here.

"From a distance I thought it was a rusted piece of iron, as it was long and reddish, but after I took a closer look, I was surprised to discover it was a dolphin's carcass, ” said Nasrul said.

He added that he and two other friends had stumbled upon the carcass noon Saturday.

"We took some pictures and then returned home to tell our families.

"But, when I returned Sunday (Dec 15) morning, it was not here (at the beach) any more, ” he told Bernama Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rantau Abang’s Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) marine mammal branch chief Mohd Tamimi Ali Ahmad confirmed the carcass was the same dolphin found stranded last Thursday (Dec 12).

He said the state fisheries department had disposed of the carcass according to standard operating procedures (SOP) by burying it Saturday with the help of villagers.

Last Thursday, a group of seven marine biology students from University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) rescued a dolphin stranded on the beach.

They rushed to the site after receiving a call from the villagers and it took them about five minutes to move the dolphin to deeper waters.

Upon discovery, there was a small cut on its head and the dolphin eventually was able to swim back to sea.

"The dolphin had already suffered injuries when it was found beached the first time and could not withstand the strong tides of the monsoon season to return to the school it probably got separated from.

"Perhaps it suffered internal organs injuries caused by food that could not be digested such as a fish bone or plastic. Dolphins would also naturally swim to land if they are about to die, ” he said.

Tamimi explained that no post-mortem was conducted on the carcass as the dolphin had been dead for more than 24 hours and its internal organs had begun to rot. - Bernama