Fears for dolphins with beaks damaged
MYSTERY surrounds the bizarre and possibly life-threatening injuries suffered by dolphins in Tor Bay.
A number of dolphins have been spotted with mutilated beaks, and experts are mystified about what could have caused the injuries, which could prevent the dolphins from feeding.
They were seen and photographed in the bay during January by wildlife expert Alex Carlisle, who leads guided tours to watch dolphins and porpoises off South Devon and is a former recorder and surveyor of marine life.
He called it a “sinister and worrying trend”.
He has photographed three common dolphins with “severely mutilated upper beaks”.
Mr Carlisle said the injuries had led him to wonder how many more “similarly ill-fated animals” might be out there, and he suggested a boat should be assigned to find out.
He said: “How is this happening and who is responsible for Tor Bay’s dolphins ending up in such debilitating, very likely life-threatening condition?”
One dolphin was freed from a commercial fishing net off Broadsands before Christmas, but Mr Carlisle said dolphins caught up in nets normally suffered lacerations to their dorsal fins, tail flukes or pectoral flippers, depending how hard they had struggled to free themselves. None of the Torbay dolphins with beak injuries appeared to have any other lacerations.
“Not a single live dolphin like this has ever before been observed, either by myself – with thousands of common dolphin sightings to my name – or by the vastly experienced experts in the field of dolphin watching, rescue, stranding and injury that I’ve spoken to,” he said. He fears a careless rogue fisherman who did not want to draw attention to having caught a dolphin might have carried out a “callous, quick release” and injured the animal in the process.
“I sincerely hope I’m wrong,” said Mr Carlisle, “but whichever way I try to look at it practically, I just can’t come to any other conclusion.”
Fishing industry figures say there is no evidence that a ‘rogue’ fisherman is to blame. Jim Portus, the Brixhambased chief executive of the South West Fish Producers Organisation, said the account of the dolphins’ injuries was harrowing.
“There is no doubt dolphins and porpoises can become entangled in passive fishing nets”, he said.
“Thankfully this is rare, and fishermen often use acoustic devices nowadays to make their nets noisy to deter accidental entanglement. There is also sometimes interaction between cetaceans and fishermen for species such as mackerel, sardines and sprats.
“These species are food for dolphins and the like which can be in a feeding frenzy at the same time as the nets encircle or trawl through the shoals. With care, the innocent by-catch can be released to survive.”
Mr Portus said that, if the injury had occurred during release, the fishermen should be praised for at least trying to save a dolphin’s life in “a race against time”.
“These animals are very heavy, sea conditions may make personal safety a real issue and such acts of kindness should be encouraged, not critiqued. It might actually be a lot easier for the fisherman to wait and release a dead animal than a thrashing, gasping live one,” he added.
Mr Carlisle has sent his photographs and findings to local fisheries authorities in the hope of raising awareness.”