Balugaon: In an unfortunate incident, the carcass of a dolphin was found floating in Chilika lake near Mahisa village under Satapada forest range early Monday morning.
Local fishermen spotted the carcass spotted and alerted the forest department officials.
On receipt of information, officials rushed to the spot and recovered it.
According to reports, it was an Irrawaddy Dolphin. It was around 12-feet long and aged about 10-year-old. The officials then retrieved the dead dolphin and took it to Satapara range office with the help of a speedboat for autopsy.
The officials have also launched a probe to ascertain the actual cause behind the death of the dolphin, said a source.
According to sources, Chilika, one of the largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world, boasted of around 180 Irrawaddy dolphins in the beginning of the year but it has now came down to 156.
The exact cause behind the death of the mammal will be ascertained after post-mortem, said Satapada Forest Range Officer.
PNN