Amid growing concerns over the scale of marine pollution caused by the cargo ship that sank off the Kochi coast last week, the carcass of a dolphin washed ashore near the Valiayazheekkal Beach in Alappuzha on Wednesday.

The discovery was made during a beach inspection led by S. Sheela, Assistant Professor of Zoology at TKMM College, Nagarkulangara, as part of a preparatory survey for a beach-cleaning initiative by the Ocean Society of India scheduled for June 8. A preliminary assessment of the carcass indicated that it was in an advanced stage of decomposition, suggesting the dolphin might have died before the shipwreck incident.

However, K.V. Jayachandran, Vice-President of the Ocean Society of India, observed that if the dolphin had died after the shipwreck, it could potentially serve as an indicator of the broader impact of marine pollution in the area. He also noted that the carcass was found just 200 metres from the spot where a container filled with cotton had washed ashore two days earlier.

“The entire stretch of the beach is littered with plastic granules and it’s still unclear whether the cotton from the container is natural or synthetic,” he pointed out.