200-kg dolphin stranded alive at Dhanushkodi

A female dolphin weighing around 200 kg was found alive but in distress after being stranded on the southern beach of Dhanushkodi in Ramanathapuram district.
Fishermen alerted forest officials after noticing the dolphin struggling on the shore. Forest personnel rushed to the spot and informed a veterinary doctor.
The dolphin, measuring around seven feet in length, was found struggling for survival. As the weather was hot, forest personnel provided shade by holding a small tarpaulin over the animal to protect it from the heat.
A veterinary doctor subsequently examined and treated the dolphin. Forest officials also made efforts to take it back into the deep sea.
Forest officials said dolphins generally move in groups in the sea. The dolphin may have sustained an injury while hunting fish and could have become stranded after being unable to continue swimming, they said.