Tears fill Maung Lay’s eyes as he describes losing the dolphin he knew since his childhood, the latest casualty of a battle against pollution and electrofishing that may see the species disappear in Myanmar. Loved for generations for corralling the catch into fishermen’s nets, the ‘smiling’ Irrawaddy dolphins are being killed in record numbers by rogue gangs who use car batteries to stun aquatic life. The illegal technique now threatens to wipe out the dolphins and the tourist bonanza they promise.

Myanmar’s ‘smiling’ Irrawaddy dolphins on brink of extinction. (2017, January 19). Manila Bulletin, p. B-8.