LANGKAWI: A tourist boat skipper saved a dolphin that was tangled in fishing nets at Sungai Kilim estuary here, on Thursday (May 2).
Afiq Ali, 27, said during the 9am incident, he was with a friend and they were on their way to the Teluk Mempelam and Gua Cherita beaches from the Sungai Kilim tourist jetty.
“About two kilometres from the jetty, I saw a wooden stick used to fasten the fishing nets was moving slowly in front of the boat. At the same time I saw two or three dolphins were swimming nearby.
“It got me thinking that there must be a dolphin stuck underneath but I have to chase it for about 30 minutes before I managed to grab the stick and hauled the dolphin onto the boat to check on its condition and saw the strands of the net were wrapped around its mouth,” he told Bernama today.
Afiq said while cutting the strand, he saw that there were wounds on its body believed to have been caused by the nets.
It was his first experience of close encounter with a trapped dolphin.
“Almost daily that we have tourists come here to see the dolphins especially in the morning and evening,” he said. - Bernama
