HUMANS ARE PREDATORS !
THE INDISCRIMINATE DUMPING OF CHEMICAL AND OTHER WASTE IN OUR OCEANS MEANS THAT MANY DOLPHIN POPULATIONS ARE SUBJECTED TO A COCKTAIL OF TOXIC POLLUTANTS. THE CURRENT PLIGHT OF THE DOLPHINS IS AN INDICATOR OF WIDER PROBLEMS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT.
CAUSES OF EXTINCTION. In 1987 large numbers of dead bottlenose dolphins (in excess of 700) were washed up on the coast of New Jersey, in the eastern USA. The dolphins were covered in sores, and their skin had become detached over large areas of their bodies. It was concluded that the dolphin’s immune system had been seriously damaged, and that consequently they had succumbed to a variety of pathogens. The question still remains as to the cause of this immunosuppressant. The US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared that the cause was the ingestion of fish which contained toxins produced by a “red tide”. A red tide is a type of plankton, resulting from extreme environmental factors . They produce a toxin known as brevotoxin, and the NOAA declared that it was this substance entering the food chain that had caused the demise of the dolphins. However, it is widely held that the result of the demise of the dolphins is because of dumping waste of many different types. And this was proved this during the inspection of dead dolphins on toxins.
The dolphin has evolved over a period in excess of 30 million years to be superbly adapted to it’s environment. It is a highly streamlined and efficient swimmer, due to it’s shape and the composition of it’s skin which reduces friction to a minimum. It has a highly developed brain, and if we ignore the mass of blubber under it’s skin, it is the only animal to have a greater brain mass/body weight ratio than man. The entertainment industry has been exploiting this adaptation for many years.
WE MUST DO SOMETHING TO STOP IT!
There are no captive dolphins in the United Kingdom. This has been achieved by educating people to the plight of captive dolphins, together with a total commitment by members of organisations like IDW who have campaigned relentlessly over many years. The situation is also improving in Europe due to similar efforts, but regrettably, this is not so in the USA, where powerful commercial organisations gain substantial revenue from “entertaining” with captive dolphins. Their publicity machines even strive to convince people that they are engaged in valuable research aimed ultimately at improving the dolphin’s lot. Don’t be fooled.
Dolphins and Commercial Fishing A major player in preventable dolphin deaths is commercial fishing. Fishing techniques including gill netting, trawling purse seining lead to dolphin injury or deaths via entangle- Representative person of the company Oceana. ment or drowning. Oceana works to prevent bycatch by defending the U.S. legislation that protects marine mammals, pushing the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce dolphin bycatch, and participating on a stakeholder team with fishermen and scientist to find ways to reduce dolCompany Leaders. phin bycatch.
Saving the ‘Dolphin Deadline’ After months of persistent campaigning by Oceana, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that maintains an important deadline for protecting tens of thousands of dolphins, whales and other beloved ocean creatures from becoming bycatch.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. http://www.idw.org/html/dolphins_in_danger.html http://oceana.org/en/our-work/protect-marine-wildlife/ dolphins/overview http://www.dolphinspotter.karoo.net/factdanger.htm http://www.eurocbc.org/page608.html