Hundreds of dead dolphins in Peruvian beaches; offshore acoustic testing leading suspect

Thursday, April 5th 2012 - 15:52 UTC

Full article 8 comments

Members of environmentalist groups take samples from dead dolphins

Conservationists counted 615 dead dolphins along a 150 kilometer stretch of beaches in Peru, a wildlife group said Wednesday, and the leading suspect is acoustic testing offshore by oil companies.

“If you can count 615 dead dolphins, you can be sure there are a great many more out at sea and the total will reach into the thousands,” Hardy Jones, head of the conservation group Blue Voice.org, said in a statement after he and an expert with ORCA Peru walked the beaches.

Indeed, the head of a local fishermen's association told the local media that he estimated more than 3,000 dolphins have died so far in the last six months, based on what he saw in the water and on beaches.

BlueVoice.org stated that ”initial tests ... show evidence of acoustical impact from sonic blasts used in exploration for oil.“

The ORCA Peru expert, veterinarian Carlos Yaipen Llanos, said that while ”we have no definitive evidence,“ he suspects acoustic testing created a ”marine bubble“ -- in essence a sonic blast that led to internal bleeding, loss of equilibrium and disorientation.

Another possibility is that the dolphins suffered from a disease outbreak, Yaipen Llanos said.

”It is a horrifying thought that these dolphins would die in agony over a prolonged period if they were impacted by sonic blast,” said Jones.

Numerous dolphins first started washing ashore in January, with the largest amount coming in early February. Thousands of dead anchovies were also seen.

BlueVoice.org noted that the US suspended similar testing in the Gulf of Mexico due to recent sightings of dead and sick dolphins. The ban was set to last through the dolphins' calving season, which ends in May.

Categories: Environment, Latin America.

Tags: dolphin, Peru.

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Think
Strange…..

When the same thing happened last time in Malvinas…….:
http://en.mercopress.com/2011/03/19/falklands-reports-grounding-of-a-pod-of-400-pilot-whales

MercoPress didn’t even mention “acoustic testing offshore by oil companies” as a possible culprit.

But when I commented about the most obvious reason for those Calderon dolphins beaching, I got immediately walloped by some self-appointed Kelper “nature experts” as Monty96 and WestisBest whilst other Kelpers and Whenies as Islander1 and Isolde were very busy trying to keep their eyes and ears shut.

Exactly the same that happened to dear Dr. Bingham when he blew the whistle about the Penguins problem in Malvinas…………
Apr 05th, 2012 - 04:35 pm 0
The Cestrian
@1

Where is this “Malvinas” you speak of? Looked on a map, cant find it.

Shame for the Dolphins, tragedy in fact. Hope they get to the bottom of whatever the RG's are doing to them.
Apr 05th, 2012 - 04:51 pm 0
Brit Bob
According to the Argentine ministry of information the dolphins were torpedoed by a British nuclear submarine.
Apr 05th, 2012 - 07:32 pm 0

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