Dolphins in the Tyrrhenian Sea, an unexplained massacre. Perhaps it was excessive heat, or a virus like measles.

Since the beginning of 2019, 34 have already died, and 28 in 2018. All of them had empty stomachs, as if they had been fasting for days. The heat has not been ruled out as a factor.

di |
dolphin massacre

DOLPHIN MASSACRE

The tragic death toll of dolphins in the Tyrrhenian Sea is rising dramatically: in ten days, twelve specimens have been found stranded lifeless on the beaches of Liguria and Tuscany , and unfortunately the mortality shows no sign of stopping.

According to experts, a virus, a killer measles epidemic similar to the one that killed around a hundred dolphins between Genoa and Elba in 2014, was responsible . This time, plastic does not appear to be responsible for the cetaceans' deaths, a hypothesis confirmed by analyses by the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta . Examining one of the dolphin carcasses found, they found no traces of plastic waste in the stomach. Indeed, the stomach was empty, suggesting illness, as if the dolphin had fasted due to a previous illness.

In just under a week, in Liguria alone, three specimens were found dead with completely red skin : two bottlenose dolphins and a stenella, the younger sister of a dolphin, a thin and slender cetacean, typical of the Mediterranean Sea, which is often confused with its larger counterpart.

The alarm is raised: if the measles hypothesis were confirmed, it would mean the experts' essential impotence: being wild animals, it is extremely difficult to approach them, especially if they are suffering. Helping them, then, is a challenge, unless they are isolated and transferred to special centers.

READ ALSO: Anchovies, the waste of a predicted massacre. Meanwhile, the CNR produces Omega-3 from anchovy waste, using oranges.

dolphin massacre
Dolphin specimen found in San Rossore (Photo credits corriere.it)

DOLPHIN MASSACRE IN TUSCANY

The latest specimen found, the thirty-fourth victim since January, was stranded on the beach of the San Rossore Natural Park, in the province of Pisa . But days earlier, off the coast of Viareggio, a sailor had raised the alarm regarding a dead baby dolphin floating in the water, watched over by its peers. A heartbreaking scene, because, as ethologists explain, dolphins are animals endowed with emotions and feelings.

Other hypotheses to explain the summer die-off of these endearing cetaceans, protagonists of every respectable marine tale, are linked to the results of analyses carried out on their bodies. Researchers at the National Research Council (CNR) believe, in addition to a highly virulent form of measles, a particular form of pathogen proliferated following temperature spikes , or even underwater noise pollution , which damages the dolphins' radar navigation system, preventing them from reaching food and thus condemning them to death by starvation.

STORIES OF ANIMALS TO BE SAVED:

 

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste