Ban pecah: The Perak Fisheries Department will send a team to investigate the authenticity of a viral claim regarding the discovery of an Irrawaddy dolphin carcass at Ban Pecah, Tanjung Piandang, today. Its director, Mohd Ghazali A. Manap, said it had yet to receive any official complaint regarding the discovery of the marine mammal, and only became aware of the incident after a 27-second video went viral on social media.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, a team from the Kuala Kurau Fisheries Office was dispatched to the location this morning to verify whether the marine mammal carcass is still there or if the video is an old recording. "If the dolphin carcass is found, we will collect it and conduct a post-mortem at the Fisheries Research Centre to determine the cause of death. After that, the carcass will be preserved so that its skeleton can be kept as a specimen," Mohd Ghazali stated when contacted by Bernama.

The video displaying the discovery of the dolphin carcass was shared on Instagram on Tuesday (Aug 4), drawing attention from netizens who expressed concern over the condition of marine life in those waters. Mohd Ghazali elaborated that, based on observations from the video, the marine mammal was estimated to be about two meters long and between seven and nine years old.

He further explained that the presence of this species in the area is not uncommon, as the waters are part of the routes used by these marine mammals in search of food. Determining the mammal's actual identity requires further examination of the specimen, as it cannot be confirmed based solely on the video. Records indicate that the Irrawaddy dolphin can grow to a maximum length of about three meters, has a lifespan of up to 30 years, and usually reaches maturity between seven and nine years of age.