Use Your Heart and Help Save our Dolphins
12th February 2007
In the last week alone, six dead common dolphins have been reported
to Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Strandings Network. We
are the only voluntary organisation in Cornwall that records, photographs
and measures dead dolphins and porpoises that have stranded on our
beaches. It is vital that we can continue this important voluntary
work to provide evidence of the threats to these animals and also to
maintain the pressure to bring about legislation to ensure better protection. We
desperately need your help and support to ensure the continuation of
this important work.
Seeing dolphins at play is a fantastic sight, one not easily forgotten. Sadly,
for many of us, our first encounter with these majestic animals is
when we find a dead, mutilated dolphin on the beach rather than seeing
them in their full glory swimming in the ocean.

Five dead porpoises on trailer
Photograph
by Caroline Curtis
In Cornwall, this heart-wrenching scene has haunted us for years;
beaches littered with dead bodies of harbour porpoises and dolphins
that have died unnatural and untimely deaths. At the end of 2005,
the Government was celebrating the fact that the number of dolphin
deaths that year was lower than for the previous four years, and they
partly attributed this to the introduction of a ban on bass pair trawl
fishing within 12 miles of the UK. However, during 2006, 175
cetaceans were recorded dead on the beaches by the Trust’s Marine
Strandings Network: a startling 70% increase on the previous year.
Joana Doyle, Marine Conservation Officer for the Trust said, “This
problem has NOT gone away and is as important as ever. Through
the pioneering work of the volunteers we have discovered that as well
as pair trawling, other fisheries; gill/tangle nets are also responsible
for accidental bycatch of dolphins and harbour porpoises off Cornwall.”
The Trust’s Marine Strandings Network is working to try to prevent
these deaths. The trained volunteers photograph and record in detail
all stranded marine animals in Cornwall, including any external injuries
that may indicate how the animal died. This information is then used
locally, nationally and internationally to lobby Government departments
responsible for the marine environment to take action to protect these
animals.

Dead Bottlenose Dolphin and volunteers at Porthtowan Beach
Photograph
by Jan Loveridge
Joana continued, “Our Marine Strandings Network volunteers are
at the forefront of scientific research into the deaths of marine animals
and it is thanks to their efforts that we are starting to piece together
information about why dead dolphins are washing up on Cornish beaches. Without
their tireless efforts vital evidence would not be collected and the
battle to protect these animals could be lost.”
Caroline Curtis is one of the 100 volunteers of the Trust’s Marine
Strandings Network. She records and photographs the bodies and
comments, “Like so many other people, I’ve had a life-long
love of dolphins and I became a strandings volunteer for Cornwall Wildlife
Trust because I desperately wanted to do something to help. In
that time, I’ve seen many, many dead dolphins. Each one
is a tragedy that makes me sad and angry. Some are crushed to
death in nets full of fish or, being air-breathing mammals like you
and me, suffocate as they cannot come to the surface to breathe.
Many have broken jaws where they were trapped in fishing trawls. Often
their heads, tails or fins have been cut off or their stomachs have
been slit open. It’s a real shock to imagine these once
graceful and playful creatures are suffering in this horrendous way. We
simply cannot justify treating them as a waste product of our appetite
for fish. We can not and must not let it go on.”
At this time of year, many of us think of those we love. We
are asking people to spare a thought and do something positive for
the marine animals that we all know and love by making a donation to
our marine appeal today. You can either send a cheque payable
to Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Five Acres, Allet, Truro, TR4 9DJ; call
01872 273939 or donate online.
If you find a dead marine animal, please call our 24 hour Marine Strandings
Hotline immediately on 0845 201 2626.
To find out more about the work of the Trust’s Marine Strandings
Network visit www.cwtstrandings.org
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