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Mass dolphin stranding in Cornwall - at least 26 dolphins dead10/06/2008 15:40:21
26 Common dolphins stranded in Cornwall in 2008. Photo credit Rory Goodall/Elemental Tours Seven dolphins refloated Reports initially came into the Trust's Strandings Hotline and to British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) early on Monday morning and the extent of the incident quickly became apparent. As the Trust's strandings volunteers worked with others to locate and remove the dead dolphins, BDMLR responded extremely quickly to the live strandings and successfully re-floated seven animals which appeared to be doing well. The response to this incident was extremely good with many individuals and numerous organisations dedicating long hours at short notice to assist in this emergency. In addition to the stranded animals on the shoreline a discovery was also made of a group of common dolphins in the Falmouth harbour area near the Maritime Museum. These individuals were showing signs of normal behaviour, but worries were raised that they may head up the creeks and become stranded. BDMLR, with the assistance of the Harbour Master and several members of the public, assisted in corralling this group into deeper water. So far there have been no further reports of additional strandings and everybody involved is hopeful that this will be the end of a tragic event.  Unprecedented in CornwallThe scale of this mass stranding is unprecedented in Cornwall and has been a shock to everybody. Work is progressing quickly to find a reason why this happened. There are several possibilities, but none of which have yet been confirmed. Potential reasons This season the plankton bloom has been relatively late and may have put i ncreased pressure on all marine life to find food. This may have caused these dolphins to head up stream to warmer waters where phytoplankton blooms were occurring earlier to feed on fish species feeding on the algae. However early post mortem information appears to discount this theory as the dolphins all appear to be well fed and in good health. There have also been instances in the past in different countries of toxic algal blooms causing fatalities in dolphin populations. This occurs because the dolphins are the apex predator and accumulate toxins as they feed on smaller fish. Another possibility which has been seen in other regions of the world is increased naval activity and the use of very powerful sonar devices. However it has been revealed that the Royal Navy were conducting exercises in the area at the time with surface ships and submarines, and it is very possible that the usage of sonar or weapons may have scared or disorientated the dolphins. Tom Hardy, Marine Conservation Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust said, "All the animals recovered to date have been adolescents and appear to be in very good condition with no obvious signs of malnourishment or physical injuries." Other mass stranding events
Lactating females - Fate of juveniles unknown The Trust could not have responded yesterday without funding from our members or without the help from our many dedicated marine volunteers. If you would like to make a donation to Cornwall Wildlife Trust's marine work, please send a cheque made payable to Cornwall Wildlife Trust to ‘Marine Donations', Five Acres, Allet, Truro, Cornwall, TR4 9DJ. Please report all dolphin and marine animal strandings to Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network on 0845 201 2626. Support for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust & Bycatch Evidence Evaluation Project This week's mass stranding of common dolphins has concerned so many people, it has brought many groups together and work is progressing quickly to discover why this tragic event happened. Award winning and eco-minded company Frugi have been supporting the Cornwall Wildlife Trust through the Bycatch Evidence Evaluation Project (BEEP) for nearly 2 years, enabling essential research into why frequent Strandings occur around our coastline, in an attempt to prevent such scenes. Marie Preece, Marketing & Fundraising Manager for Cornwall Wildlife Trust said, "Frugi donates money directly to the Trust's marine conservation work. This means that both Lucy and Kurt can see first hand what their money has been used for. The involvement of conservation charities in Monday's stranding of dolphins just reiterates why it is so vital that we continue to have financial support from local companies in Cornwall." Frugi's co-founder Lucy Jewson states "Both Kurt and I have a deep interest in our marine environment, we live just on the Helford and wanted to make a financial commitment to finding out more about these ‘accidents'."  Frugi's award winning approach demonstrates how businesses can effectively contribute to carefully audited environmental concerns. "We currently donate 1% of our turnover to Cornwall Wildlife Trust's BEEP Project and an organic cotton growing in Benin, Africa. We keep very close to both projects as they can make differences to local communities," reports Lucy. So far BEEP has provided training across Europe, translated a training manual for volunteers - all to scientifically collect information to explain why these incredibly sad incidents occur. Businesses can contact Lucy Jewson at Frugi or Jasmin Brown at Cornwall Wildlife Trust for further information or find out more on http://www.onepercentfortheplanet.com/
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From the wee hours of the morning to the evening everyone struggled to save the remaining dolphins who were still alive, and to keep the others from coming up the river. The chatter between them was electric, I could feel the vibrations under the boat ! We managed to float the two survivors from the stranding out to deep waters and guide their 7 friends who stayed with them to safety. We were met in open water by at least 100 other dolphins who followed the rescue. The dolphins moods suddenly changed from frantic to playful as we reached open waters. I would have never thought that my dream of being with dolphins who are wild and free would ever be anything like this - it was a sad and tragic day for 27 of the dolphins who didn't survive - but as you will see many were herded to safe waters ! What a day it was ! outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/563744580roxVmf
I hope that my next encounter will be a happier one ... for them, and for me.
www.cornwallsvoiceforanimals.org/Readers_Digest_Article_on_Dolphin_Stranding.pdf
The ZSL led Investigation of the common dolphin mass stranding event in Cornwall on the 9th June 2008 has now been published on the DEFRA website at the following address: randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=15331&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=cetacean%20strandings&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10
The Navy continue to deny responsibility for the stranding - saying that there was no activity in the area. But there was, the day before, and the following days we could hear the blasts from their 'war games' and we saw ships in our area. We are not all blind, deaf and stupid down here in the Southwest of Cornwall.
Posted by: CVFA | 31 Jul 2009 08:48:53