Mystery dolphin deaths probed
Autopsies held on beached mammals
AUTOPSIES have been carried out on dozens of dolphins to find out why there has been a spike in strandings on our shores in the past decade.
More than 100 postmortems have been carried out on different species since 2017 to discover the cause of death.
Leading marine biologist Dr Simon Berrow, who is helping to carry out the research for the Marine Institute, said it is the first study of its kind in Ireland.
His team respond very quickly after getting a report online or on the Irish Whale and Dolphin website about a stranding.
He added: “We run it out of Kilrush in Co Clare. When we get a call we have a look at the dolphin and see if it is in good enough condition and then we respond straight away.
“We have a brilliant network of people who help us recover, secure and transport dolphins for postmortem. We collect samples of everything
“There is a freezer full of samples of body parts now for other studies whether on diet, pollution or reproductive biology.
“It’s not just about establishing the cause of death. It’s about building a tissue bank for other studies to look at the life of these animals as well as the cause of death.” Dr Berrow, who is one of the founders of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, said a recent Observe study carried out in Ireland found there were “hundreds of thousands of dolphins” off the coast, especially during the winter.
He added: “We’re right up there in numbers. We do have a responsibility in Europe to find out how many are there, causes of death, the threats.
“If we are serious about managing our wildlife and protecting it you have to fund the studies, without science you can’t do anything.”
He said the concern over the spike in the strandings of common dolphins began in 2011 when the number of strandings started to rise sharply.
Dr Berrow said: “Plastics don’t really kill whales and dolphins. Obviously we hear reports in the media but that would be the exception, rather than the rule. “We published a study a year ago where we looked at incidents of big plastics in over 500 whales, dolphins and porpoises we had postmortemed over the last 20 years.
“We found 8.5% had visible plastic in them but it wasn’t the cause of death.” news@irishmirror.ie
Simon Berrow