Severed body parts of dolphin found by diver-photographer in San Juan, Batangas

Severed body parts of a dolphin were found by a diver and underwater photographer in San Juan, Batangas.

As seen on Kuya Kim's "24 Oras" report, Thursday, Penn De Los Santos photographed a tail, a pectoral fin, and a dorsal fin separately, as if slashed like meat.

De Los Santos added that there was blood around it. In his two-decade experience diving, Penn said this was an eye-opener and painful to see.

The photos caught the attention of San Juan, Batangas' Municipal Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) Office, which said this is already an "isolated case."

"Napigilan na ito under R.A. 8550 (Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998). 'Di na hinuhuli ang dolphin, 'di binebenta," said MENR officer Noelito Pasco. "Ang pagkatay ng ganitong specie, malaki ang penalty."

("This is prohibited under R.A. 8550 (Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998). Dolphins are no longer caught, no longer sold. There's a huge penalty for butchering this specie.")

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species, five of 41 species and six sub-species of dolphins are already endangered.

—Franchesca Viernes/MGP, GMA Integrated News