CANBERRA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two rare dolphins have died in commercial fishing nets on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR), authorities confirmed on Saturday.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) said that the snubfin dolphins drowned after getting caught in the nets in October.
"The fisher who caught the dolphins followed all required fishing rules and protocols, including attendance of the net and reporting of the incident," a GBRMPA spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday.
Four dugongs were also found dead in a region of the reef between September and October, the spokesperson said, one of which was killed by a fishing net.
The second dugong was found floating near a netting operation while the others were too decomposed to determine a cause of death.
"Some of these unfortunate marine mammal deaths relating to net fishing reinforce the importance of mitigating risks and ensuring ecologically sustainable fishery management arrangements are in place adjacent to and throughout the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park," the spokesperson said.
Richard Leck, head of oceans for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia, said the deaths were proof that a 85,000 square kilometer net-free zone should be established on the reef.
"This is a really tragic incident to hear about. These snubfin dolphins are a rare Australian species. They are only found in Australian waters and they're a vulnerable species," Leck said.
He said that most gillnet deaths were not reported.
"We think it's actually the tip of the iceberg," he said.
