Hundreds of dead dolphins and fish wash up on beaches in Ghana
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Authorities in Ghana are investigating the deaths of hundreds of dolphins and fish that washed up on beaches in Ghana in recent days, as fears grow that contaminated fish have been sold to customers.
Dead sea species have littered beaches in Accra and near the capital’s shoreline since Friday. Officials said close to 100 dead dolphins had washed up on Axim beach, while videos posted on social media showed scores of varying species including eels and several fish species.
Ghana’s fisheries commission said it had taken laboratory samples of the animals and waters in recent days while the cause remained unknown.
An official at the commission, Dr Peter Zedah, told local media on Wednesday that investigations were ongoing but initial findings showed “environment” and “stress factors” had caused the deaths. Some of the fish studied “looked good, so it gives you the impression that maybe some environmental factors may have caused their death”, he said.
Officials on Tuesday asked people who may have consumed the fish to come forward as part of their investigations, and Ghana’s minister of fisheries and aquaculture, Mavis Koomson, asked fishers in Accra “to cooperate with the Fisheries Commission and FDA as they investigate the incidents of dead fishes washing up on our shores”.
Fears have also emerged for the fate of some sea mammals, such as the Atlantic humpback dolphin, an endangered subspecies, along the coast of west Africa.
Workers from the OR Foundation, an NGO researching the impact of secondhand clothing waste on Ghana’s marine environment, had seen several fish on the beaches since Friday, with many still washing up dead on Tuesday evening.
Courtesy of theguardian.com
7 dead dolphins after 40 become beached in Saudi Arabia
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More than 40 dolphins beached in northwest Saudi Arabia due to heavy winds and unstable weather have been rescued but seven others died, official news agency SPA said Friday.
SPA said they had been driven into shallow waters and ashore this week in Khor al-Thuqba on the Red Sea.
Environment ministry staff, border guards, municipality workers, civil defence members and volunteers took part in the rescue, SPA said, guiding and moving the dolphins by hand from white sandy beaches into deeper waters.
Courtesy of france24.com
Record 93 dolphin and whale deaths are reported
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Mystery surrounds the worst spate of dolphin and whale strandings on record in Ireland.
There have been 93 dead dolphins, whales and porpoises washed up along the coast in the first two months of the year – the highest number ever recorded in that time period.
Four were successfully refloated after efforts from volunteers but 89 died.
Last year, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group received 70 reports of the animals washing up dead in the winter months, which was unprecedented, but it was surpassed this year with 93 strandings.
Common dolphins are the most frequent species found making up more than two-thirds of the carcasses this year.
In a number of cases, people who found dolphin carcasses were convinced they had found the remains of much-loved Dingle dolphin Fungie, but none of the animals turned out to be the famous bottlenose dolphin with distinctive markings.
Just under one in 10 had obvious signs of being caught in nets, three had tails cut off, three had broken jaws, and one was caught in a net.
Stephanie Levesque, stranding officer with the IWDG, believes the pandemic has meant more people are out walking their local shores and this could be playing a role in the increased reports.
The strandings are concentrated mainly among the west and south-west coasts.
Courtesy of independent.ie
Dozens of dead dolphins and birds found on the coast of Krasnodar, Russia
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Dead dolphins and birds were found on the coast of the village of Dzhubga (Krasnodar Territory). Tik-Tok video uploaded by user Costa Klimoff (constantine1986).
“I don’t know what is being thrown into the water here, this is Dzhubga, but there are a lot of dead birds, dolphins. I don’t know what it’s connected with. Moreover, the birds are all of the same species, ”the man commented on what he saw.
February on social networks residents of Vityazevo and Gelendzhik. The Anapa authorities associate this with the cold, noting that the locals and guests of the resorts help, feed the swans, ducks, crested grebes every day, but they cannot save everyone. The head of the press service of the Gelendzhik administration, Yanina Skorikova, told RBC that this is an annual phenomenon. “We took a comment from veterinarians. This is an annual phenomenon, at this time the animals are just weakened. In addition, this year the weather was cold for the south, this also played a role – there was little food, ”Skorikova said. The head of the veterinary department of Gelendzhik, Orest Pilavov, confirmed that “there has not been such a winter for a long time, the bird simply could not stand it all.”
URA.RU sent an official request to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory. No response was received at the time of publication.
The fact that abnormal cold weather will come to the south of Russia, noted “ Constantinople “, Scientific Director of the Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation Roman Vilfand said in December 2020. Also, according to meteorologists, the snowy harsh winter this year will affect the onset of spring , in the central regions of the country in March and early April the temperature is expected to be below normal.
Courtesy of ura.news
Dozens of dolphins found dead on Mozambique beach
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Eighty-six more carcasses were found on Bazaruto Island, north of the capital Maputo, on Tuesday, after a first group was washed ashore on Sunday.
The cause of the deaths is still unknown, the country’s environment ministry said, and more experts are heading to the site.
One possible experts are investigating is if a cyclone may have contributed.
Last week’s Cyclone Guambe caused unrest in the waters off the island of Bazaruto, the head of inspection at the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park, Tomás Manasse, said.
He added that dolphins are known to follow their leader to shore when they are in danger.
The autopsy did not conclusively find problems with the skin, tongue or intestines, he said, however, more samples have been sent to a laboratory in Maputo.
Last year, 52 dead dolphins were found on the coast of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.
Campaigners blamed a ship which had run aground and spilled vast amounts of oil.
However, the BBC’s Yasine Mohabuth in Port Louis says that in November an investigation by the fisheries ministry put the main cause of death down to a phenomenon known as barotrauma.
This is caused by an abrupt change in pressure.
“This could have been caused by a multitude of factors, such as the use of military sonar, an underwater earthquake, explosives or a volcanic eruption,” the report said.
Courtesy of BBC News
Dozens of dead dolphins wash up in Andalusia, Spain
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Almeria has suffered a wave of dolphin strandings on its shores over the past week. The Civil Guard has collaborated with Equinac (a non-profit organization to address turtle and cetacean strandings) to investigate the event that could be caused by Morbillivirus, a virus lethal to dolphins but not transmissible to humans.
The coordinator of this group, Eva Morón, explained to the local media that they do not yet have sufficient evidence to say so, as they have little means to do necropsies and are asking MITECO (Ministry for Ecological Transition and demographic challenge) for help. So far only two necropsies have been performed on two dolphins.
This wave of dolphins has left many specimens dead or close to death in: Mojácar, Balanegra, Garrucha and Punta Entinas. Unfortunately, not only have dolphins been affected but there has also been a stranding of a loggerhead turtle in Almerimar and a dry shark in Carboneras, which appeared with part of the needle of a swordfish stuck in the eye.
Among all these dolphins it has been possible to see how some of them had in their bodies several cuts caused by humans and even in some cases had engraved the name of a person on their body. That is why an investigation has been opened with the command of the Civil Guard of Almería.
Courtesy of diariodesevilla.es
17 dead dolphins wash up in Mauritius #Dolphins #Mauritius
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At least 17 dead dolphins washed up on Mauritius’ beaches Wednesday, raising questions about what effect the oil spilled from the Japanese cargo tanker MV Wakashio, which ran aground on July 25, is having on marine life surrounding the Indian Ocean island-nation, according to Reuters.
As thousands of tons of fuel spilled into the ocean, activists and scientists were quick to warn that an ecological disaster was in the making as the island’s unique coral species and fish would be threatened. Now, the death of a significant portion of a dolphin pod may be a signal of the cascading effects from the spill, according to the BBC.
While the fisheries ministry says the dolphins were killed by sharks, environmental campaigners are calling for a probe to find out if the deaths are connected to the spill.
“The dead dolphins had several wounds and blood around their jaws, no trace of oil however. The ones that survived, around ten, seemed very fatigued and could barely swim,” said Jasvin Sok Appadu from the fisheries ministry, as Reuters reported.
However, Greenpeace Africa finds the timing raises doubts.
“This is a deeply sad and alarming day for the people of Mauritius,” Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa’s senior climate and energy campaign manager, said in a statement on Wednesday, as Al-Jazeera reported. “Greenpeace appeals to the authorities to carry out a swift, transparent and public autopsy on the bodies collected.”
In a tweet, Greenpeace Africa said, “this incident must be investigated fully and transparently! If the oil spill was indeed the cause of this tragedy, then the polluters must be held accountable for the harm done to coastal communities and their #Biodiversity.”
Courtesy of ecowatch.com
Record 1,100 dead dolphins wash up on French coast #Dolphins #France
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Dead dolphins are washing up on France’s Atlantic coast in such high numbers that local populations of the mammals are at risk, marine biologists say.
The overwhelming majority drowned in the nets of fishing trawlers. Post mortems often show fractures, broken tails and flippers and deep incisions cut into their skin by the nets. Some have been mutilated as fishermen release their bodies.
“We’re reaching mortality rates that threaten the survival of the dolphin population in the Bay of Gascony,” said Morgane Perri, a marine biologist in Brittany, western France.
“For the last three years, we’ve seen more than 1,000 deaths (of dolphins and porpoises) over a four-month period each winter.”
Common dolphins are the hardest hit. Scientists believe those found on beaches represent a small fraction of the total number dying in fishing nets off the coast of France. The real number is likely to be five to 10 times higher, they estimate.
Courtesy of dailysabah.com
86 dead dolphins found on a beach in Namibia #Dolphins #Namibia #Africa
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Namibia said on Monday that 86 dusky dolphins, including two calves just days old, had been found dead on a remote beach and it had launched an investigation into what happened.
Marine biologist Kolette Grobler estimated that the mammals had been dead for about a week before they were found on Friday by commercial lobster fishermen at Hottentot Bay, some 40 km (25 miles) north of the southwestern coastal town of Luderitz. “.
Courtesy of deccanherald.com
670 dead dolphins washed up this year along coast of France #Dolphins #France
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Animal welfare activists from the group Pelagis have discovered around 670 dead dolphins along the beaches of France’s Atlantic coast, saying that the number of dead mammals is likely to be much higher, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday.
Courtesy of sputniknews.com
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