Dolphins save Puerto Princesa fisherman

[Richard]

By Redempto Anda
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 16:29:00 12/16/2008

Close this PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- Ronnie Dabal needed a miracle to survive the cold and treacherous waters of Puerto Bay that fateful Monday, December 8.

Early in the morning while fishing for tuna in the choppy waters of Puerto Princesa Bay, a squall came upon him and turned his boat upside down.

After battling with punishing waves for the next 24 hours on top of a piece of styropor, Dabal survived the ordeal in the most astonishing manner -- being saved not by human beings but by dolphins and whales.

“Nagdasal na ako kasi nawawalan na ako ng lakas. Hindi na ako makalangoy at nawawalan na ako ng malay,” he narrated. (I began praying because I was losing my energy. I couldn’t continue paddling with my hands because I was getting so tired and was about to pass out.)

Floating at sea the entire day, trying in vain to get closer to land while swimming against the waves, Dabal said his arms and legs had gone pale and soggy. A swarm of tiny crustaceans, locally called “bugto,” had begun nibbling on his softened limbs.

“There were too many of them that I couldn’t cope because I was running out of energy. I was bleeding and started to fear that sharks could appear any time, drawn by the smell of my blood,” he said in the vernacular.

Dusk came as Dabal’s hopes started to vanish and a creeping darkness began to envelope him. From out of nowhere, a pod of around 30 dolphins and a pair of whales measuring about 10 meters in length came and started to flank him on both sides.

“Dumating yung mga dolphins. Ang dami nila. Tapos may lumapit na dalawang balyena. Dun sila sa tigkabilang tabi ko lumalangoy,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (There were dolphins, lots of them. Then a pair of whales started swimming on both sides)

Dabal, 35 and father of two kids, swore it was not his mind playing tricks on him even as his energy was starting to fail him.

As he lay still on top of his piece of plastic board, Ronnie narrated how the dolphins would alternately nudge his tiny life raft using their pectoral fins towards the direction of land.

“Palit palitan sila tinutulak ako gamit ang kanilang palikpik,” (They would push me alternately using their fins). Meanwhile, he said the rest of the pod stayed close to him to around just a meter away apparently trying to make sure no harm would come to him from any other animal.

The pair of whales, described by a local cetacean specialist as possibly male pilot whales based on the description provided by Dabal, kept to his side swimming along with the dolphins.

“Based on his description of the animals, the dolphins were probably spinners and the whales were most likely pilot whales,” Dr. Terry Aquino told the Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Dabal said he passed out while the dolphins were doing their slow chore of nudging him to shore, and woke up on the beach of Barangay (Village) Luzviminda where he was finally assisted by local residents there.

Dabal’s unique experience is made more special by the fact that aside from owning a small motorized boat which he uses mainly as his main source of livelihood catching tuna, he is a deputized dolphin warden on a part-time basis having been trained by the Palawan NGO Network and ABS CBN Bantay Kalikasan Foundation. The two groups are helping the city government in promoting dolphin and whale shark watching as a tourist attraction in Puerto Princesa.

“He is warden and a spotter, whom we tap to locate the presence of dolphins whenever there are guests on dolphin watching tours. He is also involved mainly in collecting garbage around the areas frequented by the dolphins to prevent the animals from eating them and being poisoned by plastics that float around,” Dr. Gerry Ortega of ABS CBN Foundation said.

Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn was so elated by Ronnie’s account that he vowed to ratchet up his administration’s support to the fishing communities around Puerto Bay that were helping promote dolphin and whales tourism by being volunteer wardens and spotters.

“Ronnie’s experience is the greatest proof that what we are doing to protect our marine environment is worth all the effort that we are putting into it. I’d like to think that this is the animals’ way of also thanking us for helping protect their habitat,” said Hagedorn.

Hagedorn’s administration has pumped in money to help train volunteers and tour guides in promoting the dolphins as one of the city’s newest tourist attractions, along with whale shark watching.

Dr. Aquino pointed out that the incident occurred on the very site where dolphin watching tours were being held, and that there was a possibility that the dolphins in the area were those commonly seen around there.

Aquino noted that more scientific researches would be needed to explain the occasional phenomenon of dolphins saving humans.

“There are at least three similar incidents that I know in the past that had happened here in Palawan. But overall, this phenomenon has been unstudied and the accounts were mostly narratives of the survivors,” Aquino said.

“Dolphins are very social creatures and they are known to be intelligent beings. Some scientists even believe they are capable of emotions,” she added.

Spinner dolphins are the species which Dr. Aquino said could have been involved in Dabal’s rescue. These are the types that frequently like to bow ride to wow tourists with their speed and grace while swimming, according to Dr. Aquino.

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