Cetacea numbers are dropping rapidly due to human interference. In the last blog I posted about whales, now it's the turn of the Dolphin. The dolphin is often the face of the marine world, cute, friendly and an animal that enjoys to frolic with humans, but like many other of the seas creatures and resources, humans are exhausting them.
One way in which dolphins suffer is for our entertainment. Dolphins are often caught and bred into captivity. Captive dolphins often die through bad treatment, care and lack of space but the stories rarely make the headlines as they are covered up. The following report states many case studies of bad treatment and death: http://www.iridescent-publishing.com/rtm/ch5p1.htm Many people will flock to see dolphins in large public aquariums such as Orlando and Sea world and, like Free Willy, the film Flipper has not helped.
One way in which dolphins suffer is for our entertainment. Dolphins are often caught and bred into captivity. Captive dolphins often die through bad treatment, care and lack of space but the stories rarely make the headlines as they are covered up. The following report states many case studies of bad treatment and death: http://www.iridescent-publishing.com/rtm/ch5p1.htm Many people will flock to see dolphins in large public aquariums such as Orlando and Sea world and, like Free Willy, the film Flipper has not helped.
The biggest killer of dolphins however seems to be human accident and misjudgement - nets and noise pollution cause the most deaths. A recent study by Exeter University claim that industrial fishing is the main suspect for our dolphins dying, and that since 2000, 100 - 250 dolphins each yearhave been stranded due to being caught in nets and at least 61% of this number were thought to be bycatch by fishermen.
Recent mass strandings have finally been raising awareness to the problems that our cetaceans face. 26 dolphins were stranded near Falmouth, Cornwall back in June, it was the biggest stranding in UK history. It is thought that a pod of around 76 dolphins were in the area at the time. Scientists have not been able to confirm a definate reason for the strandings but the finger is being pointed at the Navy. The MOD released a statment saying they were using Sonar in the area at the time and this can play havoc with dolphin communication. It must be said though that at currentm, post mortem results are still not available, it cannot be confirmed that the Navy were to blame.
One of the last problems dolphins face is the same as the whales; murder for meat. In Japan, dolphin and whaling for meat is a big profitable industry. The dolphins and whales are herded into coves and killed using harpoons - it is the biggest massacre in the world. They have their bellies slit open, their heads cut off and many suffer slow, painful, distressing deaths. Campaigners have been trying to put a stop to the killings, but the situation is the same as that of the whales; currently hopeless.
So another sad blog about the destruction we're causing to our marine creatures and another call for people to try and help out with what they can: join a protest, a campaign, sign a website or simply care for your seas better.
Check out these campaign websites:
Just a last note on dolphins and their behaviour that I found interesting and slightly scary at the same time, Dolphins are as sexually explorative as humans and engage in homosexuality, bisexuality, rape, gang rape and beastiality. Interestingly enough, many of their acts of beastiality seem to be attempts at rape with humans, these two website gives examples and stories:
http://www.sexwork.com/family/dolphinrape.html http://www.theforumsite.com/forum/topic/Dolphins-rape-people-o-o-/202925
So watch out!
