What's the story?
Since the start of 2019, around 1,080 have washed up on beaches along France's Atlantic coast.
“We've had around 1,200 small cetaceans along the coast” of the Bay of Biscay, of which more than 90 percent were common dolphins, biologist Olivier Van Canneyt told AFP.
The observatory he works for said the number of dead dolphins had set a record each year since 2017, and warned that the species could be wiped out in the area.
“There were two peaks in mid-February and mid-March linked to currents that are stronger at that time owing to low-pressure conditions,” noted Van Canneyt, a specialist in sea mammals and birds.
Illustration photo: AFP
The observatory said that around 85 perecent of the dolphin carcasses that could be examined bore traces of accidental capture, while noting that almost three times as many dead dolphins had likely not even reached the coast.
Dolphins and porpoises can be caught in fishing nets and suffocated when they hunt for sea bass and whiting at the same time as fishing fleets, especially during winter months in the region.
The number of dolphins that wash up on the coast has increased this year despite efforts by the observatory to warn the mammals of a human presence by using acoustic “pingers”.
Environment Minister Francois de Rugy said in March that he would unveil a plan to limit such deaths “by the end of the year”.
The dolphins have been washing up on the stretch of Atlantic coast running all the way from southern Brittany to the Spanish border with large numbers of carcasses found in the departments of Vendée and in the Charentes Maritimes.
Scientists say these numbers are only the tip of the iceberg as many when dolphins die, many just sink to the bottom of the ocean or are washed out to sea rather than ending up on the beaches.
These deaths could also threaten the dolphin populations in the years to come, researchers say.
? Assourdissant silence des Ministres @FdeRugy et @dguillaume26 alors que le nombre de dauphins communs échoués sur la côte Atlantique continue d'augmenter. Déjà plus de 400 échouages constatés depuis le début de l'année.#DéfendsTaMerhttps://t.co/i7j7iQk7Ms
— France Nature Env.. (@FNEasso) 13 février 2019
Why is this happening?
Although hundreds of dead dolphins wash up on French beaches every year, this is a record number so early on in the year.
Most of the dead dolphins found bear injury marks which researchers say are caused by big fishing boats and the large fishing nets they use.
“Among the carcasses found, 93 percent show signs that they have been captured by fishing vessels and their equipment such as mutilations, amputations and fractured jaws,” according to the French environmental charity France Nature Environnement (FNE).
The dolphins get caught in the vast nets used to catch fish like hake and sea bass, which the dolphins like to eat. Some of these nets are fixed in the sea bed and when dolphins get stuck in them, they can't come up for air to breathe and they suffocate.
Trawlers are also a problem as they drag large fishing nets behind them which dolphins also get caught in and suffer injuries and die. When they get stuck, dolphins panic, and the stress can also kill them.
Hécatombe : mutilés par la pêche, plus de 400 #dauphins se sont échoués sur la côte atlantique https://t.co/I5WqUR54Ez pic.twitter.com/67LNyXf1Dk
— LA VDN par La Voix du Nord (@lavoixdunord) 14 février 2019
Is there a solution?
An obvious solution would be to reduce the number of large fishing vessels.
Environmental organisations want the number of big trawlers and other large fishing boats – which belong mainly to French and Spanish fleets – allowed to fish in those waters to be cut immediately. They are calling for a better coordination between the French and Spanish governments to find a solution to the problem.
They also want observers to be allowed to board these vessels to control the fishing practices, but in practice, they say this isn't happening as the boats are reticent to do so.
Other solutions include putting acoustic 'repellents' on boats to keep the dolphins away. These are called 'pingers' and this year, for the first time all the large-scale French pelagic trawlers, which drag a net called the trawl at the stern of the vessel until the net is full, were equipped with some.
But given the record numbers of dolphin deaths this year already, the pingers seem to have little effect.
FNE has pointed out that one of the problems could be that the pingers are not attached to the large nets on the sea beds, where many dolphins get caught.
by Emilie King
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What a disgrace!