Experts voice worries after dead dolphins wash ashore in northern Australia

CANBERRA - Experts have shared fears about the dolphin population in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) after two individuals washed up dead.

Jason Fowler, a dolphin scientist from the Environment Center NT, found a humpback dolphin calf dead on Casuarina Beach in the capital city of Darwin's northern suburbs over the weekend.

It is the second dolphin found washing up on the beach in as many weeks.

Fowler recently told News Corp Australia that the calf showed no signs of injury, prompting major concerns about the health of dolphins off the coast of the NT.

Three species of coast-dwelling dolphins are prominent in Darwin harbor -- Australian snubfin, Australian humpback and coastal bottlenose.

Fowler said the population's health was deteriorating as a result of "undue harm" from increasing noise and water pollution in the area.

"I have no doubt (that) in 10 years time, you won't be able to find a dolphin in Darwin harbor," he said.

A 2018 study from the NT Government Environment Department revealed that the number of humpback dolphins in the harbor fell from 42 in 2011 to 26 in 2016 but did not identify the cause.

In the wider Darwin area, the population of the three dolphin species fell from 148 to 97.