Check The Ship's Captains, Pacitan Police Say 4 Dolphins Have Been Released, There Is No Element Of Intent

Screenshot of the dolphin catching video on the deck of one of the fishing boats in Pacitan waters (ANTARA/HO - @ndorobei.official)

SURABAYA - New facts were discovered by the Pacitan Police, East Java after examining four cases related to the arrest of seven dolphins suspected of being the long-beaked common dolphin.

There is no intentional element. Four of the dolphins were still alive so they were immediately released into the sea.

"This conclusion refers to the statements of the investigators. The incident was (totally) unintentional," said Pacitan Police Chief AKBP Wiwit Ari Wibisono in Pacitan, Antara, Sunday, January 9.

There are four people who have been examined. One is the captain or helmsman, and the other three are crew members. The investigation into the alleged capture and killing of marine mammals, a type of dolphin, which is a protected animal, is confirmed to continue.

There were 23 other crew members who were originally going to be summoned by the investigation team at the Satreskrim Polres Pacitan to be confronted regarding the statements of each witness.

From the confession and testimony of the helmsman and the three crew members who were examined, it was stated that not all dolphins caught in their purse seine nets died. Of the seven caught in the net, four of them were still alive and were immediately released back into the open sea.

The investigation into this case was not only carried out by the police, but also involved a number of experts from related institutions, such as the BKSDA and the Fisheries Service. The case of catching seven dolphins in Pacitan waters surfaced and became viral content after being uploaded on social media.

In the video upload, the seven dolphins are on the ship's deck in a dead condition.

The picture taker is suspected to be one of the crew members on the ship that was raided by a joint team of Polair, TNI AL, and Pacitan Police officers on Saturday.

However, during the search, officers did not find any evidence of dolphins on the ship's deck.

According to the crew, the dolphins caught in nets and carried to the top of the ship's deck were dumped into the sea before docking back at the Tamperan Harbor pier.