Speculation stranded dolphins may have drowned in trawlers nets

Speculation stranded dolphins may have drowned in nets


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

There is growing speculation that trawlers fishing off the west coast of Ireland may have been responsible for the deaths of over a dozen dolphins which washed ashore dead along the Achill and Erris coasts.
Two weeks ago up to 16 common dolphins were reported to have stranded dead along the Mayo coast while there were also strandings along the Kerry and Donegal coast. While strandings are not uncommon in January and February, the number of strandings was described as ‘worryingly high’ and as a result samples were taken for post mortem.
The samples were taken to the UK for testing and the results will not be known for a number of weeks. This has not stopped speculation as the cause of the strandings and because they all washed up dead, there is a growing theory among dolphin watchers that they may have got caught in fishing nets.
There were reports that two French registered fishing trawlers and two Dutch registered trawlers were operating off the west coast at the time of the strandings.
“If they [fishing trawlers] were fishing for shoals of mackerel there is a probability that the dolphins may have been among them and got caught in the nets and drowned. These are large ships and if they are working in tandem catching mackerel, the dolphins would be dumped as a bycatch. I have been in discussion with a number of friends and that is one of the assumptions of what may have happened. The results of the post mortem will only highlight if they drowned or not,” a member of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group told The Mayo News.
One of the findings from the recent stranding show that they were all common dolphins and males which experts saw may give another insight into the behaviour and movement of dolphins when in groups.
A spokesperson for the National Parks and Wildlife Service which recovered several of the stranded dolphins for testing told The Mayo News that they do not have any preliminary results from the post mortem and it was too early to pinpoint anything as the cause of death. The spokesperson said more tests will have to be carried out before more is known.

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