Rescue staff with Pakistan's Sindh Wildlife are racing against time, literally, to save an Indus river dolphin that has strayed into a waterway where it doesn't belong.

Wildlife staff in Pakistan race against time to save blind Indus dolphin

<p>Three men in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been arrested after they were filmed beating an endangered river dolphin to death.</p>

<p>The video has since gone viral.</p>

<p>The December 31 attack involved at least seven&nbsp;young men violently hitting a Gangetic dolphin with wooden rods and an axe until it bled. They then suffocated the animal beneath the water of the Sharda canal. The dolphin carcass had injury marks.</p>

<p>The video shows one of the men as saying: "You are attacking it for no reason."</p>

<p>Another person then adds: "Hit it now, hit it now."</p>

<p>The dolphin was later found dead by a local official from the forest department.</p>

<p>But after footage of the attack went viral, three men were identified and arrested.</p>

<p>The Gangetic dolphin is an endangered and protected species and the national aquatic animal of India. There are thought to be fewer than 5,000 Gangetic dolphins left.</p>

<p>It is usually found in India’s Ganges river and Pakistan’s Indus river, and can be recognised by its long snout nose</p>

<p>Police have identified one of the arrested youth as Anuj. The other two share the same name, Rahul.</p>

<p>The rare freshwater dolphin is essentially blind, and is known locally as "susu," a reference to the noise it makes when it breathes, according to the WWF. Female Ganges river dolphins give birth once every two to three years to only one calf.</p>


Three men in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been arrested after they were filmed beating an endangered river dolphin to death. The video has since gone viral. The December 31 attack involved at least seven young men violently hitting a Gangetic dolphin with wooden rods and an axe until it bled.

Three men in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been arrested after they were filmed beating an endangered river dolphin to death. The video has since gone viral. The December 31 attack involved at least seven young men violently hitting a Gangetic dolphin with wooden rods and an axe until it bled. They then suffocated the animal beneath the water of the Sharda canal. The dolphin carcass had injury marks. The video shows one of the men as saying: "You are attacking it for no reason." Another person then adds: "Hit it now, hit it now." The dolphin was later found dead by a local official from the forest department. But after footage of the attack went viral, three men were identified and arrested. The Gangetic dolphin is an endangered and protected species and the national aquatic animal of India. There are thought to be fewer than 5,000 Gangetic dolphins left. It is usually found in India’s Ganges river and Pakistan’s Indus river, and can be recognised by its long snout nose Police have identified one of the arrested youth as Anuj. The other two share the same name, Rahul. The rare freshwater dolphin is essentially blind, and is known locally as "susu," a reference to the noise it makes when it breathes, according to the WWF. Female Ganges river dolphins give birth once every two to three years to only one calf.

Men beat dolphin to death in Uttar Pradesh, three arrested

The scientists said that the spill has caused the massive poisonous shock to the system for the Mauritius where tourism and fishing are the main stage of the economy where the damage will have a lasting impact.

Mauritius Oil Spill: An Ecological Catastrophe

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"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.</p>

<p>"For the last three years, we've seen more than 1,000 deaths (dolphins and porpoises) over a four-month period each winter."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Dolphins have for decades been caught in fishing nets in the Atlantic waters off western Europe. But marine scientists say the spike in numbers in recent years is a result of shifting fishing practices, and in particular the fishing vessels that trawl in pairs for sea bass.</p>

<p>French law requires fishermen to declare all cetacean by-catch. But Perri said this rarely happened.</p>

<p>The National Committee of Maritime Fishermen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>

<p>The slow reproduction rates of dolphins, which are mammals and need to surface in order to breathe, means they are particularly vulnerable to sharp falls in numbers, according to the Pelagis Observatory in La Rochelle.</p>

<p>Population models show numbers are stable, said Helene Peltier, a researcher at the observatory. "But once you see the decline, it's too late."</p>

<p>Activist group Sea Shepherd wants trawlers to be banned from fishing in sea bass spawning grounds and better monitoring of fisheries. Acoustic 'pingers' designed to repel dolphins are also being trialled on some fishing boats.</p>

<p>"There is no single miracle solution," Peltier said.</p>


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.

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 (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. Dolphins have for decades been caught in fishing nets in the Atlantic waters off western Europe. But marine scientists say the spike in numbers in recent years is a result of shifting fishing practices, and in particular the fishing vessels that trawl in pairs for sea bass. French law requires fishermen to declare all cetacean by-catch. But Perri said this rarely happened. The National Committee of Maritime Fishermen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The slow reproduction rates of dolphins, which are mammals and need to surface in order to breathe, means they are particularly vulnerable to sharp falls in numbers, according to the Pelagis Observatory in La Rochelle. Population models show numbers are stable, said Helene Peltier, a researcher at the observatory. "But once you see the decline, it's too late." Activist group Sea Shepherd wants trawlers to be banned from fishing in sea bass spawning grounds and better monitoring of fisheries. Acoustic 'pingers' designed to repel dolphins are also being trialled on some fishing boats. "There is no single miracle solution," Peltier said.

Dead dolphins wash up on France's shores in record numbers

<p>A reward of up to $20,000 has been offered by the US oceanic department after a&nbsp;dead dolphin<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/sharp-rise-in-whale-dolphin-stranding-deaths-in-india-91"> was discovered</a> off Naples, Florida late last week.&nbsp;Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated that the animal had suffered grievous wounds from what could be a sharp object or a bullet.</p>

<p>Another dolphin was recovered within the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-dolphin-carcass-found-washed-ashore-in-kerala--131644">same week</a> along Pensacola Beach, Florida by emerald coast wildlife refuge experts who stated that the creature had a bullet lodged in its left side.</p>

<p>Experts have reason to believe that the deaths are related to humans who are feeding wild dolphins. It&nbsp;makes dolphins associate people and boats with food, which exposes them to dangerous situations. Officials have repeatedly urged people to avoid feeding wild dolphins.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-single-use-plastic-is-killing-the-earth-248688">How single-use plastic is killing the Earth</a></p>

<p>The number of <a href="carcass ">dolphins who were stranded</a> with evidence of wounds inflicted by gunshots, arrows and fishing spears in some cases, has been on the rise since 2002. A dolphin was found dead with a fatal puncture wound to its head in May 2019 off Captiva Island. Law enforcement officials are still investigating the murder.</p>

<p>A reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to the person responsible for these crimes has been being offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA).</p>


A reward of up to $20,000 has been offered by the US oceanic department after a dead dolphin was discovered off Naples, Florida late last week. Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated that the animal had suffered grievous wounds from what could be a sharp object or a bullet.

A reward of up to $20,000 has been offered by the US oceanic department after a dead dolphin was discovered off Naples, Florida late last week. Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated that the animal had suffered grievous wounds from what could be a sharp object or a bullet. Another dolphin was recovered within the same week along Pensacola Beach, Florida by emerald coast wildlife refuge experts who stated that the creature had a bullet lodged in its left side. Experts have reason to believe that the deaths are related to humans who are feeding wild dolphins. It makes dolphins associate people and boats with food, which exposes them to dangerous situations. Officials have repeatedly urged people to avoid feeding wild dolphins. Also Read: How single-use plastic is killing the Earth The number of dolphins who were stranded with evidence of wounds inflicted by gunshots, arrows and fishing spears in some cases, has been on the rise since 2002. A dolphin was found dead with a fatal puncture wound to its head in May 2019 off Captiva Island. Law enforcement officials are still investigating the murder. A reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to the person responsible for these crimes has been being offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA).

US department offers $20,000 reward for information on dolphins found stabbed in Florida

<p>Just over a month after resuming whaling, Japan on Sunday began its controversial dolphin hunt in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
The controversial hunting method involves herding dolphins into a cove which is a bay with a narrow entrance that is sealed. The dolphins are&nbsp;reportedly slaughtered by fishermen inside the cove with knives in shallow water.<br />
<br />
Japan had announced in July that it was leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and would <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/first-whales-caught-as-japan-resumes-commercial-hunt-after-30-years-232177">resume commercial whaling</a> from July 1. A global whaling moratorium was imposed in 1986.</p>

<p><strong>Watch: Japan is hunting dolphins again</strong></p>

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<p>Prime Minister Shinzo Abe belongs to Shimonoseki, a whaling centre. The Japanese prime minister had long campaigned to restart commercial whaling which began last month.</p>

<p><br />
Reports said the island nation had resumed hunting minke whales in the coastal areas off Hokkaido on Monday and is likely to reach the "catch quota" by month-end. The Abe government has reportedly set 1,700 dolphins to be killed or captured. The dolphin hunting season usually lasts for six months.<br />
<br />
The Japanese government has apparently&nbsp;set&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/japan-under-pressure-over-past-hunting-of-endangered-whales-243496">catch quota of 53 minke whales</a>&nbsp;in order&nbsp;to prevent over-hunting, however, fishermen could reach the quota in September.<br />
<br />
Whales are widely consumed in Japan amounting to roughly 40-50 grams per Japanese person a year although just over 300 people are directly linked to hunting.<br />
<br />
Japan had pulled out of International Whaling Commission in December last year as it decided to resume commercial whaling. Japan has now joined Iceland and Norway in whale hunting in open defiance of other countries who signed up to the International Whaling Commission.</p>


Just over a month after resuming whaling, Japan on Sunday began its controversial dolphin hunt in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. The controversial hunting method involves herding dolphins into a cove which is a bay with a narrow entrance that is sealed.

Just over a month after resuming whaling, Japan on Sunday began its controversial dolphin hunt in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. The controversial hunting method involves herding dolphins into a cove which is a bay with a narrow entrance that is sealed. The dolphins are reportedly slaughtered by fishermen inside the cove with knives in shallow water. Japan had announced in July that it was leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and would resume commercial whaling from July 1. A global whaling moratorium was imposed in 1986. Watch: Japan is hunting dolphins again × Prime Minister Shinzo Abe belongs to Shimonoseki, a whaling centre. The Japanese prime minister had long campaigned to restart commercial whaling which began last month. Reports said the island nation had resumed hunting minke whales in the coastal areas off Hokkaido on Monday and is likely to reach the "catch quota" by month-end. The Abe government has reportedly set 1,700 dolphins to be killed or captured. The dolphin hunting season usually lasts for six months. The Japanese government has apparently set a catch quota of 53 minke whales in order to prevent over-hunting, however, fishermen could reach the quota in September. Whales are widely consumed in Japan amounting to roughly 40-50 grams per Japanese person a year although just over 300 people are directly linked to hunting. Japan had pulled out of International Whaling Commission in December last year as it decided to resume commercial whaling. Japan has now joined Iceland and Norway in whale hunting in open defiance of other countries who signed up to the International Whaling Commission.

Now, Japan begins dolphin hunt in whaling town of Taiji

<p>A dolphin carcass was found washed ashore in Kerala on Wednesday night. The cause of dolphin's death is not yet known, however, Kerala Environment Department suspects lack of food in coastal waters as one of the probable causes for the dolphin's death.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There could be many reasons which could be attributed to several factors. We have not come to any conclusions," V Kripa from fisheries department in Kochi, Kerala shared.</p>

<p>Dolphins leaping out of sea waters in Kochi, especially during high tide, are a major tourist attraction in Kochi city. Starvation, being hit by shipping vessels and getting tangled in fishing nets are the most common reasons for the deaths of these friendly mammals.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from Reuters)&nbsp;</em></p>


Dolphins leaping out of sea waters in Kochi, especially during high tide

A dolphin carcass was found washed ashore in Kerala on Wednesday night. The cause of dolphin's death is not yet known, however, Kerala Environment Department suspects lack of food in coastal waters as one of the probable causes for the dolphin's death. There could be many reasons which could be attributed to several factors. We have not come to any conclusions," V Kripa from fisheries department in Kochi, Kerala shared. Dolphins leaping out of sea waters in Kochi, especially during high tide, are a major tourist attraction in Kochi city. Starvation, being hit by shipping vessels and getting tangled in fishing nets are the most common reasons for the deaths of these friendly mammals. (With inputs from Reuters)

Watch: Dolphin carcass found washed ashore in Kerala

<p>The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced on Tuesday that the number of Irrawaddy dolphin and finless porpoise, residing in Asian waters have considerably dropped, moving to the &quot;endangered&quot; category from &quot;vulnerable&quot;.</p>

<p>According to the Red List of threatened species, the&nbsp;Australia&#39;s western ringtail possum has also moved from &quot;vulnerable&quot; to the &quot;critically endangered&quot; category.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;In the Mekong River, for example, the majority of Irrawaddy dolphin deaths in recent years have been caused by entanglement in gill nets. These nets hang like curtains of deaths across the river,&quot; Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the group&#39;s Red List unit said.</p>

<p>Currently there perhaps less than 70 Irrawaddy dolphin alive in the Mekon river.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The decline in number comes as the number of Irrawaddy dolphin&#39;s halved in the last 60 years. The finless porpoise has also halved in the last 45 years, the group declared.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The&nbsp;Irrawaddy dolphin usually occurs in Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People&#39;s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The finless porpoise is mostly found in&nbsp;coastal&nbsp;waters&nbsp;Southeast&nbsp;and East Asia, Yangtze River and its adjacent lake systems, according to sources.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;These species live in shallow waters near shore and both have populations confined to freshwater systems, and that makes them extremely vulnerable to human activities. The threats pushing species to extinction come from us, from humans ... This also means that we can do something about it&quot; Taylor said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Due&nbsp;to Australia&#39;s dry and humid climate, it has lead to the massive decline in the western ringtail possums of more than 80% in the last 10 years.&nbsp;</p>


The decline in number comes as the number of Irrawaddy dolphin's halved in the last 60 years. The finless porpoise has also halved in the last 45 years, the group declared

The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced on Tuesday that the number of Irrawaddy dolphin and finless porpoise, residing in Asian waters have considerably dropped, moving to the "endangered" category from "vulnerable". According to the Red List of threatened species, the Australia's western ringtail possum has also moved from "vulnerable" to the "critically endangered" category. "In the Mekong River, for example, the majority of Irrawaddy dolphin deaths in recent years have been caused by entanglement in gill nets. These nets hang like curtains of deaths across the river," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the group's Red List unit said. Currently there perhaps less than 70 Irrawaddy dolphin alive in the Mekon river. The decline in number comes as the number of Irrawaddy dolphin's halved in the last 60 years. The finless porpoise has also halved in the last 45 years, the group declared. The Irrawaddy dolphin usually occurs in Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam. The finless porpoise is mostly found in coastal waters Southeast and East Asia, Yangtze River and its adjacent lake systems, according to sources. "These species live in shallow waters near shore and both have populations confined to freshwater systems, and that makes them extremely vulnerable to human activities. The threats pushing species to extinction come from us, from humans ... This also means that we can do something about it" Taylor said. Due to Australia's dry and humid climate, it has lead to the massive decline in the western ringtail possums of more than 80% in the last 10 years.

Asian dolphins close to extinction: Report

<p>Abhishek Jalalabad spent the 23rd of March, 2016 praying that he did not see a whale at the Palolem beach in south Goa. Just a day earlier, a local branch of conservation group &#39;World Wild Fund&#39;&nbsp;got in touch with him. It was a distress call. They wanted his help in rescuing an eight-foot dwarf sperm whale.<br />
<br />
Jalalabad, a marine scientist, rushed to Palolem beach. By then, tourists and lifeguards had managed to release the whale into the Arabian Sea. But he stayed back on a hunch and the rescuer&#39;s worst fears came true at about midnight.<br />
<br />
The eight-foot whale returned to the shore in the dark of the night. Roughly 20 minutes after Jalalabad and his colleague, assisted by tourists, sent it back into the water, the whale beached again. This time, it lay still, dead.<br />
<br />
This was one of the roughly 90 reported cases of whale and dolphin strandings along the Indian shores in the past 20 months.<br />
<br />
More than 13,000 kilometres away from Goa is California&rsquo;s Pacifica Beach. Nicole Strasser was heading home after her night shift at the hospital&nbsp;when she experienced a nasty stench in the parking lot. Something was afloat on the beach. To her dismay it was a dead whale -- the second she saw in a matter of weeks.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/pic_1-20160922111054.jpg" />When WION spoke to Strasser, she was anxious. Last year she had spotted hundreds of whales in the sea. This year she has only seen dead ones.<br />
<br />
More and more mass whale and dolphin strandings are being reported the world over. Once beached, they face the risk of injury and death from dehydration. However, January was especially baffling for marine scientists in India. More than a hundred short-finned pilot whales &ndash; a species of dolphins &ndash; were found stranded along a 15-kilometre stretch of a beach in Tamil Nadu on the east coast of India, of which 45 died.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/image_1-20160922110520.jpg" /><br />
<br />
N Vasudevan, a conservationist for the Indian state of Maharashtra that flanks the western coast, told WION, &quot;The numbers are unusually high. Earlier, we rarely saw so many whales being washed ashore. We cannot say what is causing this.&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/map_dolphin_whales_02-20160922105802.jpg" /></p>

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<p><br />
No marine scientist can pinpoint the exact cause behind cetacean stranding. Giuseppe Notabartolo di Sciara is the president of Tethys Research Institute in Milan that is a non-profit organisation supporting marine conservation through science and public awareness.<br />
<br />
&quot;The news about whales and dolphins washing up dead in India in increasing numbers is worrisome. It is clear that there isn&#39;t a single agent at work, but multiple causes, and each event has its own story,&rdquo; di Sciara said.<br />
<br />
&quot;We humans are forgetting that all our activities conducted in unsustainable ways at sea are destroying not only the animal world, but our world as well,&quot; di Sciara added.<br />
<br />
Human disruptions also cost lives with dolphins getting caught-up in fishing lines and dying. A baby dolphin died after it was scooped out of shallow water by a swimmer and passed around at a beach in Argentina by a mob intent on clicking selfies with it.<br />
<br />
In 2015, scientists made a grim discovery in Patagonia, southern Chile: 337 dead Sei whales. This is the world&#39;s biggest mass whale stranding event ever recorded.<br />
<br />
A year on, investigators still have no explanation. Professor di Sciara speculated that the large number of dead whales in Chile must have a single cause, whereas it was &ldquo;very likely&quot;&nbsp;that the increase of dead whales in India is due to human activities, like plastic waste disposal in the sea, overfishing and underwater sonar&rdquo;.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/world_whales_dolphins_infographics-20160922112144.jpg" /></p>

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<p>In 2004, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission concluded&nbsp;that &ldquo;there is now compelling evidence about military sonar having a direct impact on the beaked whales&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
In 2001, the US&nbsp;Navy acknowledged that its active sonar played a role in the stranding deaths of 14 beaked whales, two minke whales, and a dolphin in the Bahamas in 2000. Autopsies of the beaked whales revealed that the animals had suffered acoustic trauma resulting in hemorrhaging around the brain, in the inner ears, and in the acoustic fats located in the head that are involved in sound transmission.<br />
<br />
Dr&nbsp;N Ramaiah, chief scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, however, felt behavioral patterns could be a possible factor in the mass stranding of 45 pilot whales in India this year. &quot;As these pilot whales move in large groups, each pod has a leader. Sometimes they land up on the shore while following their leader that may have lost its way due to disorientation,&rdquo; he said.</p>

<p>Mass strandings may not even be a true indicator of what&#39;s going on in the ocean. Clare Embling, lecturer of Marine Ecology at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom, said stranding &quot;is always difficult to place in context&nbsp;because only a small number that die will strand&quot;. Many big mammals sink, and where they die in relation to ocean currents, can influence how many strand. Seeing 30 sperm whales strand is upsetting, but it is difficult to know whether it is a fluke climatic event that caused it, or something more alarming.&quot;<br />
<br />
One major factor, however, is plastic. It is found floating in all the world&rsquo;s oceans. Among 10 species of baleen whales, 60 per cent have been found to be tangled in ocean debris, while 20 per cent have ingested plastic or other waste by mistake. The study of 65 different species of toothed whales by environmental group Greenpeace reveals that 8 per cent managed to entangle themselves in ocean waste, another 32 per cent ended up ingesting plastic dumped in the ocean.<br />
<br />
Kumaran Sathasivam, coordinator of the Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India, said: &quot;Whales and dolphins consume plastic in the ocean thinking it is food. The ocean is already so polluted and it will take a lot of time for all this plastic to deteriorate.&quot; But to reduce all cetacean strandings to one cause is difficult without proper statistics, experts say. &nbsp;<br />
<br />
Independent marine ecologist, Dipani Sutaria, says, &quot;A concerted effort to document and publicise these [stranding] events has begun only since 2013. We now have researchers or interested individuals all along the west coast.&quot; Sutaria points out that 11 Baleen whales were found stranded in 2015 on the west coast of India -- eight in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
Sutaria believes the number of cases reported is directly proportionate to the response network on the coasts. There are fisher-folk, tourists, forest department staff, independent researchers, and local organisations that pass on information in case a marine mammal washes ashore. &nbsp;<br />
<br />
While this mysterious uptick of beached whales is recent, the phenomenon itself is surprisingly old. Evidence of mass beaching has puzzled scientists as far back as 300 BC. &ldquo;It is not known why they sometimes run aground on the seashore,&rdquo; said Greek philosopher Aristotle. &ldquo;It is asserted that this happens when the fancy takes them and without any apparent reason.&quot; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
(WION) &nbsp;<br />
<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</p>

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Dead whales, dolphins wash up on beaches from India to California and nobody knows why. Can anything save them?

Abhishek Jalalabad spent the 23rd of March, 2016 praying that he did not see a whale at the Palolem beach in south Goa. Just a day earlier, a local branch of conservation group 'World Wild Fund' got in touch with him. It was a distress call. They wanted his help in rescuing an eight-foot dwarf sperm whale. Jalalabad, a marine scientist, rushed to Palolem beach. By then, tourists and lifeguards had managed to release the whale into the Arabian Sea. But he stayed back on a hunch and the rescuer's worst fears came true at about midnight. The eight-foot whale returned to the shore in the dark of the night. Roughly 20 minutes after Jalalabad and his colleague, assisted by tourists, sent it back into the water, the whale beached again. This time, it lay still, dead. This was one of the roughly 90 reported cases of whale and dolphin strandings along the Indian shores in the past 20 months. More than 13,000 kilometres away from Goa is California’s Pacifica Beach. Nicole Strasser was heading home after her night shift at the hospital when she experienced a nasty stench in the parking lot. Something was afloat on the beach. To her dismay it was a dead whale -- the second she saw in a matter of weeks. When WION spoke to Strasser, she was anxious. Last year she had spotted hundreds of whales in the sea. This year she has only seen dead ones. More and more mass whale and dolphin strandings are being reported the world over. Once beached, they face the risk of injury and death from dehydration. However, January was especially baffling for marine scientists in India. More than a hundred short-finned pilot whales – a species of dolphins – were found stranded along a 15-kilometre stretch of a beach in Tamil Nadu on the east coast of India, of which 45 died. N Vasudevan, a conservationist for the Indian state of Maharashtra that flanks the western coast, told WION, "The numbers are unusually high. Earlier, we rarely saw so many whales being washed ashore. We cannot say what is causing this.” No marine scientist can pinpoint the exact cause behind cetacean stranding. Giuseppe Notabartolo di Sciara is the president of Tethys Research Institute in Milan that is a non-profit organisation supporting marine conservation through science and public awareness. "The news about whales and dolphins washing up dead in India in increasing numbers is worrisome. It is clear that there isn't a single agent at work, but multiple causes, and each event has its own story,” di Sciara said. "We humans are forgetting that all our activities conducted in unsustainable ways at sea are destroying not only the animal world, but our world as well," di Sciara added. Human disruptions also cost lives with dolphins getting caught-up in fishing lines and dying. A baby dolphin died after it was scooped out of shallow water by a swimmer and passed around at a beach in Argentina by a mob intent on clicking selfies with it. In 2015, scientists made a grim discovery in Patagonia, southern Chile: 337 dead Sei whales. This is the world's biggest mass whale stranding event ever recorded. A year on, investigators still have no explanation. Professor di Sciara speculated that the large number of dead whales in Chile must have a single cause, whereas it was “very likely" that the increase of dead whales in India is due to human activities, like plastic waste disposal in the sea, overfishing and underwater sonar”. In 2004, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission concluded that “there is now compelling evidence about military sonar having a direct impact on the beaked whales”. In 2001, the US Navy acknowledged that its active sonar played a role in the stranding deaths of 14 beaked whales, two minke whales, and a dolphin in the Bahamas in 2000. Autopsies of the beaked whales revealed that the animals had suffered acoustic trauma resulting in hemorrhaging around the brain, in the inner ears, and in the acoustic fats located in the head that are involved in sound transmission. Dr N Ramaiah, chief scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, however, felt behavioral patterns could be a possible factor in the mass stranding of 45 pilot whales in India this year. "As these pilot whales move in large groups, each pod has a leader. Sometimes they land up on the shore while following their leader that may have lost its way due to disorientation,” he said. Mass strandings may not even be a true indicator of what's going on in the ocean. Clare Embling, lecturer of Marine Ecology at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom, said stranding "is always difficult to place in context because only a small number that die will strand". Many big mammals sink, and where they die in relation to ocean currents, can influence how many strand. Seeing 30 sperm whales strand is upsetting, but it is difficult to know whether it is a fluke climatic event that caused it, or something more alarming." One major factor, however, is plastic. It is found floating in all the world’s oceans. Among 10 species of baleen whales, 60 per cent have been found to be tangled in ocean debris, while 20 per cent have ingested plastic or other waste by mistake. The study of 65 different species of toothed whales by environmental group Greenpeace reveals that 8 per cent managed to entangle themselves in ocean waste, another 32 per cent ended up ingesting plastic dumped in the ocean. Kumaran Sathasivam, coordinator of the Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India, said: "Whales and dolphins consume plastic in the ocean thinking it is food. The ocean is already so polluted and it will take a lot of time for all this plastic to deteriorate." But to reduce all cetacean strandings to one cause is difficult without proper statistics, experts say. Independent marine ecologist, Dipani Sutaria, says, "A concerted effort to document and publicise these [stranding] events has begun only since 2013. We now have researchers or interested individuals all along the west coast." Sutaria points out that 11 Baleen whales were found stranded in 2015 on the west coast of India -- eight in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat. Sutaria believes the number of cases reported is directly proportionate to the response network on the coasts. There are fisher-folk, tourists, forest department staff, independent researchers, and local organisations that pass on information in case a marine mammal washes ashore. While this mysterious uptick of beached whales is recent, the phenomenon itself is surprisingly old. Evidence of mass beaching has puzzled scientists as far back as 300 BC. “It is not known why they sometimes run aground on the seashore,” said Greek philosopher Aristotle. “It is asserted that this happens when the fancy takes them and without any apparent reason." (WION)

Death in deep blue seas: Sharp spike in dolphin, whale deaths

<div paraeid="{05f3f4ba-6c27-4e34-b44d-90488c3797f0}{222}" paraid="738038165">On&nbsp;March 23,&nbsp;Abhishek Jalalabad&nbsp;spent the day&nbsp;practically praying&nbsp;that he did not&nbsp;see a whale in the waters of&nbsp;Palolem&nbsp;beach in South Goa. A day earlier a local branch of the conservation group, World Wild Fund, got in touch with him. It was a distress call.&nbsp;They wanted help rescuing an eight-foot&nbsp;dwarf&nbsp;sperm whale.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{05f3f4ba-6c27-4e34-b44d-90488c3797f0}{235}" paraid="1162057803"><br />
Jalalabad, a marine scientist,&nbsp;rushed to&nbsp;Palolem&nbsp;beach. By then, tourists and lifeguards had managed to release the whale into the Arabian Sea. But&nbsp;he&nbsp;stayed back on a hunch&nbsp;and his worst fears came true at about midnight.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{05f3f4ba-6c27-4e34-b44d-90488c3797f0}{247}" paraid="416318180"><br />
The eight-foot whale returned to the shore in the dark of the night. Roughly 20 minutes after Jalalabad and his colleague, assisted by tourists, sent it back into the water, the&nbsp;whale beached&nbsp;again. This&nbsp;time, it lay still, dead.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tm514WannqY" width="560"></iframe>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{1}" paraid="7873198"><br />
This was one of the roughly 90 reported cases of whale and dolphin&nbsp;strandings&nbsp;along the Indian shores in the past&nbsp;16 months.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{13}" paraid="1319860927"><br />
More than 13,000&nbsp;kilometres&nbsp;away from Goa is California&rsquo;s Pacifica Beach. Nicole&nbsp;Strasser&nbsp;was heading home from working the night shift at the hospital, but in the parking lot she noticed a nasty stench. Something was afloat on the beach. To her dismay it was a dead whale --&nbsp;the second she&nbsp;saw in a matter of weeks.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{25}" paraid="1458958582"><br />
When WION spoke to&nbsp;Strasser, she was anxious. Last year she had spotted hundreds of whales in the sea. This year she has only seen dead ones.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{44}" paraid="109128051"><br />
More and more&nbsp;mass whale and dolphin&nbsp;strandings&nbsp;are being reported the world over. Once beached, they face the risk of injury and death from dehydration.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;January&nbsp;was especially baffling for marine scientists in India. More than a hundred short-finned&nbsp;pilot whales &ndash; a species of dolphins &ndash; were found stranded along a 15-kilometre&nbsp;stretch on a beach on the East coast&nbsp;of which 45&nbsp;died.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{61}" paraid="19417065"><br />
N&nbsp;Vasudevan, a conservationist&nbsp;for the&nbsp;Indian state of&nbsp;Maharashtra that flanks the western coast,&nbsp;told WION,&nbsp;&quot;The numbers are&nbsp;unusually high. Earlier, we rarely saw so many whales being washed ashore. We cannot say what is causing this.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{88}" paraid="1509952067"><br />
No marine scientist can pinpoint the exact cause behind cetacean&nbsp;stranding. Giuseppe&nbsp;Notabartolo&nbsp;di&nbsp;Sciara&nbsp;is the&nbsp;president of Tethys Research Institute in Milan&nbsp;that is a non-profit&nbsp;organisation&nbsp;supporting&nbsp;marine conservation through science and public awareness,. &quot;The news about whales and dolphins washing up dead in India in increasing numbers is worrisome. In India, it is clear that there isn&#39;t a single agent at work, but multiple causes, and each event has its own story,&rdquo;&nbsp;di&nbsp;Sciara&nbsp;said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{102}" paraid="1559345755"><br />
&quot;We humans are forgetting that all our activities conducted in unsustainable ways at sea are destroying not only the animal&nbsp;world,&nbsp;but our world as well,&quot;&nbsp;di&nbsp;Sciara&nbsp;added.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{119}" paraid="327036382"><br />
Human disruptions also cost lives with dolphins getting caught-up in fishing lines and dying. A&nbsp;baby dolphin&nbsp;died after it&nbsp;was&nbsp;scooped out of shallow water by a swimmer&nbsp;and passed around at a beach in&nbsp;Argentina by a mob intent on clicking selfies with it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{134}" paraid="46539843"><br />
In&nbsp;2015, scientists made a grim discovery in Patagonia, southern Chile: 337 dead&nbsp;Sei&nbsp;whales. This is the world&#39;s biggest mass whale stranding event ever recorded. A year on, investigators still have no explanation. Professor di&nbsp;Sciara&nbsp;speculated&nbsp;that the large number of dead whales in Chile must have a single cause, whereas it&nbsp;was&nbsp;&ldquo;very likely&#39; that the increase of dead whales in India is due to human activities, like plastic waste disposal in the sea,&nbsp;overfishing&nbsp;and underwater sonar&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{157}" paraid="969082255"><br />
In 2004, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission&nbsp;concluded &ldquo;there is now compelling evidence that military sonar has a direct impact on&nbsp;beaked whales&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{166}" paraid="374851407"><br />
In 2001, the U.S. Navy acknowledged that its active sonar played a role in the stranding deaths of 14 beaked whales, two&nbsp;minke&nbsp;whales, and a dolphin in the Bahamas in 2000. Autopsies of the&nbsp;beaked whales revealed that the animals had suffered acoustic trauma resulting in hemorrhaging around the brain, in the inner ears, and in the acoustic fats located in the head that are involved in sound transmission.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{186}" paraid="1217454194"><br />
Dr. N&nbsp;Ramaiah, chief scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography,&nbsp;however,&nbsp;felt&nbsp;behavioral patterns could be a possible factor in the mass stranding of 45&nbsp;pilot whales in India this year. &quot;As these&nbsp;pilot whales move in large groups, each pod has a leader. Sometimes they land up on the shore while following their leader&nbsp;that may have lost its way due to disorientation,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{206}" paraid="794908400"><br />
Mass&nbsp;strandings&nbsp;may not even be a true indicator of what&#39;s going on in the ocean. Clare&nbsp;Embling,&nbsp;lecturer of Marine Ecology at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom,&nbsp;said&nbsp;stranding&nbsp;&quot;is always difficult to place in context, because only a small number that die will strand. Many big mammals sink, and where they die in relation to ocean currents, can influence how many strand. Seeing 30 sperm whales strand is upsetting, but it is difficult to know whether it is a fluke climatic event that caused it, or something more alarming.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{226}" paraid="1390480577"><br />
One major factor, however, is plastic.&nbsp;It&nbsp;is found floating in all the world&rsquo;s oceans.&nbsp;Among 10 species of baleen whales, 60 per cent have been found to be tangled in ocean debris, while 20 per cent have ingested plastic or other waste by mistake. The study of 65 different species of toothed whales by&nbsp;environmental&nbsp;group&nbsp;Greenpeace reveals&nbsp;that&nbsp;8 per cent managed to entangle themselves in ocean waste, another 32 per cent ended up ingesting plastic&nbsp;dumped in the ocean.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{e20761c3-5ece-4734-9b3d-a84b8441cdad}{244}" paraid="1987002615"><br />
Kumaran&nbsp;Sathasivam, coordinator of the Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India, said:&nbsp;&quot;Whales and dolphins consume plastic in the ocean thinking it is food. The ocean is already so&nbsp;polluted&nbsp;and it will take a lot of time for all this plastic to deteriorate.&quot;&nbsp;But to reduce all cetacean&nbsp;strandings&nbsp;to one cause is difficult without proper statistics, experts say.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{f8fb269c-e177-4ca3-8947-a18c6761d825}{8}" paraid="557921561"><br />
Independent marine ecologist,&nbsp;Dipani&nbsp;Sutaria, says, &quot;A concerted effort to document and&nbsp;publicise&nbsp;these [stranding] events has begun only since 2013. We now have researchers or interested individuals all along the&nbsp;west coast.&quot;&nbsp;Sutaria points out that&nbsp;11 Baleen whales were found stranded&nbsp;in 2015&nbsp;on the west coast of India --&nbsp;eight in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{f8fb269c-e177-4ca3-8947-a18c6761d825}{17}" paraid="1377072721"><br />
Sutaria believes&nbsp;the number of cases reported is directly proportionate to the response network on the coasts. There are fisher-folk, tourists, forest department staff, independent researchers, and local&nbsp;organisations&nbsp;that pass on information in case a marine mammal washes ashore.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{f8fb269c-e177-4ca3-8947-a18c6761d825}{31}" paraid="931235265"><br />
While this mysterious uptick of beached&nbsp;whales is&nbsp;recent, the phenomenon itself is surprisingly old. Evidence of mass&nbsp;beaching&nbsp;has puzzled scientists as far back as 300 BC. &ldquo;It is not known why they sometimes run aground on the seashore,&rdquo; said&nbsp;Greek philosopher&nbsp;Aristotle. &ldquo;It is asserted that this happens when the fancy takes them and without any apparent reason.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{f8fb269c-e177-4ca3-8947-a18c6761d825}{34}" paraid="1428470953"><br />
&nbsp;</div>


On March 23, Abhishek Jalalabad spent the day practically praying that he did not see a whale in the waters of Palolem beach in South Goa. A day earlier a local branch of the conservation group, World Wild Fund, got in touch with him. It was a distress call. They wanted help rescuing an eight-foot dwarf sperm whale. Jalalabad, a marine scientist, rushed to Palolem beach. By then, tourists and lifeguards had managed to release the whale into the Arabian Sea. But he stayed back on a hunch and his worst fears came true at about midnight. The eight-foot whale returned to the shore in the dark of the night. Roughly 20 minutes after Jalalabad and his colleague, assisted by tourists, sent it back into the water, the whale beached again. This time, it lay still, dead. This was one of the roughly 90 reported cases of whale and dolphin strandings along the Indian shores in the past 16 months. More than 13,000 kilometres away from Goa is California’s Pacifica Beach. Nicole Strasser was heading home from working the night shift at the hospital, but in the parking lot she noticed a nasty stench. Something was afloat on the beach. To her dismay it was a dead whale -- the second she saw in a matter of weeks. When WION spoke to Strasser, she was anxious. Last year she had spotted hundreds of whales in the sea. This year she has only seen dead ones. More and more mass whale and dolphin strandings are being reported the world over. Once beached, they face the risk of injury and death from dehydration. However, January was especially baffling for marine scientists in India. More than a hundred short-finned pilot whales – a species of dolphins – were found stranded along a 15-kilometre stretch on a beach on the East coast of which 45 died. N Vasudevan, a conservationist for the Indian state of Maharashtra that flanks the western coast, told WION, "The numbers are unusually high. Earlier, we rarely saw so many whales being washed ashore. We cannot say what is causing this.” No marine scientist can pinpoint the exact cause behind cetacean stranding. Giuseppe Notabartolo di Sciara is the president of Tethys Research Institute in Milan that is a non-profit organisation supporting marine conservation through science and public awareness,. "The news about whales and dolphins washing up dead in India in increasing numbers is worrisome. In India, it is clear that there isn't a single agent at work, but multiple causes, and each event has its own story,” di Sciara said. "We humans are forgetting that all our activities conducted in unsustainable ways at sea are destroying not only the animal world, but our world as well," di Sciara added. Human disruptions also cost lives with dolphins getting caught-up in fishing lines and dying. A baby dolphin died after it was scooped out of shallow water by a swimmer and passed around at a beach in Argentina by a mob intent on clicking selfies with it. In 2015, scientists made a grim discovery in Patagonia, southern Chile: 337 dead Sei whales. This is the world's biggest mass whale stranding event ever recorded. A year on, investigators still have no explanation. Professor di Sciara speculated that the large number of dead whales in Chile must have a single cause, whereas it was “very likely' that the increase of dead whales in India is due to human activities, like plastic waste disposal in the sea, overfishing and underwater sonar”. In 2004, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission concluded “there is now compelling evidence that military sonar has a direct impact on beaked whales”. In 2001, the U.S. Navy acknowledged that its active sonar played a role in the stranding deaths of 14 beaked whales, two minke whales, and a dolphin in the Bahamas in 2000. Autopsies of the beaked whales revealed that the animals had suffered acoustic trauma resulting in hemorrhaging around the brain, in the inner ears, and in the acoustic fats located in the head that are involved in sound transmission. Dr. N Ramaiah, chief scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, however, felt behavioral patterns could be a possible factor in the mass stranding of 45 pilot whales in India this year. "As these pilot whales move in large groups, each pod has a leader. Sometimes they land up on the shore while following their leader that may have lost its way due to disorientation,” he said. Mass strandings may not even be a true indicator of what's going on in the ocean. Clare Embling, lecturer of Marine Ecology at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom, said stranding "is always difficult to place in context, because only a small number that die will strand. Many big mammals sink, and where they die in relation to ocean currents, can influence how many strand. Seeing 30 sperm whales strand is upsetting, but it is difficult to know whether it is a fluke climatic event that caused it, or something more alarming." One major factor, however, is plastic. It is found floating in all the world’s oceans. Among 10 species of baleen whales, 60 per cent have been found to be tangled in ocean debris, while 20 per cent have ingested plastic or other waste by mistake. The study of 65 different species of toothed whales by environmental group Greenpeace reveals that 8 per cent managed to entangle themselves in ocean waste, another 32 per cent ended up ingesting plastic dumped in the ocean. Kumaran Sathasivam, coordinator of the Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India, said: "Whales and dolphins consume plastic in the ocean thinking it is food. The ocean is already so polluted and it will take a lot of time for all this plastic to deteriorate." But to reduce all cetacean strandings to one cause is difficult without proper statistics, experts say. Independent marine ecologist, Dipani Sutaria, says, "A concerted effort to document and publicise these [stranding] events has begun only since 2013. We now have researchers or interested individuals all along the west coast." Sutaria points out that 11 Baleen whales were found stranded in 2015 on the west coast of India -- eight in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat. Sutaria believes the number of cases reported is directly proportionate to the response network on the coasts. There are fisher-folk, tourists, forest department staff, independent researchers, and local organisations that pass on information in case a marine mammal washes ashore. While this mysterious uptick of beached whales is recent, the phenomenon itself is surprisingly old. Evidence of mass beaching has puzzled scientists as far back as 300 BC. “It is not known why they sometimes run aground on the seashore,” said Greek philosopher Aristotle. “It is asserted that this happens when the fancy takes them and without any apparent reason."

Sharp rise in whale, dolphin stranding deaths in India

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