The animal was found in near the island of Olib in the Vir Sea. The dolphin has a spear gun harpoon sticking out of its back. This metal object is about a meter long and embedded deep in the flesh of the animal in front of the dorsal fin. It is leaning towards the body of the animal under its own weight, at an angle of approximately 45. Despite being hurt, the dolphin was swimming and diving while travelling north, suggesting the injury was sustained relatively recently. Due to bad weather conditions, BWI staff was unable to come close to the dolphin to get a better look at the wound. However, it is clear that the movement of the animal is causing further damage as the harpoon is moving inside the wound. The survival of the animal is uncertain and probably depends on whether the foreign body will be removed or not.
The Blue World Institute catalogue of bottlenose dolphins contains photographs of more than 1000 individuals, taken in the past 25 years in the Croatian part of the Adriatic. Checking the available data allowed us to ascertain that this is one of the 20 most resident and best known dolphins of the Lošinj and Kvarnerić area. We encountered this animal for the first time on 16.06.2004 and named it Bojan. We have since come to know him very well because he was present in a total of 55 sightings. Due to the fact that he was never photographed with a calf of his own, we are assuming he is male. Bojan was last seen on 08.08.2013, between the islands Lošinj and Orjula, on which occasion the animal was not injured.
In Croatia, bottlenose dolphins are protected by The Nature Protection Act and people killing the animals are subject to a 35 000 kn fine. The incident has been reported to the Nature protection inspection so that actions could be taken to find the culprits.
Bottlenose dolphins have always been a symbol of joy and life in the sea. We believe that nobody, not even the person who shot this animal, could possibly believe that he would succeed in "capturing" a dolphin weighing 200 kilograms using a spear gun. Why was this wrongdoing necessary? Arrogance? Boredom? The need to show off on social networks?
Having in mind Bojan is injured, we ask of any potential observers to report his location and status in the following days (send a photo if you can) to BWI staff via phone (051 604666), fax (051 604668) or e-mail ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) so that they could respond and help the animal in time if necessary.
