Monitoring Desk
PARIS: Hundreds of dolphins are washing up on the Atlantic coast in France and thousands more are believed killed in the nets of fishermen each year, as Brussels and environmentalists pressure the French government to protect the marine animals.
The head of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) said on Wednesday that he would write to President Emmanuel Macron that the time has come to do the utmost efforts to save dolphins from mistreatment or even extinction.
He added that the dramatic situation was even unacceptable as it could be avoided.
Pro-dolphin environmentalists say harmful fishing activities, including sea-bed and deep-sea trawling, must be stopped for several weeks in the Bay of Biscay between Spain and France.
Surge in deaths of dolphins
The Pelagis Ocean Observatory has found a surge in dolphin deaths on the coast, with 127 common dolphins dying in January alone, up from seventy-three in the same month last year.
An increase in the deaths of dolphins is usually seen later in the year, during their February-March feeding season which brings them closer to fishing boats chasing hake and sea bass.
In 2022, 669 dolphins died, down from 1,299 in 2020.
Researchers believe that over 80% of dead dolphins sink or decompose in water rather than washing ashore.
