The disgust and anger of public opinion were provoked two recent fatal dolphin attacks in the Aegean. Marine mammals have been discovered in the past few days by the Archipelago Marine Environment Protection Institute with signs of deliberate killing.

The first dead bottlenose dolphin was discovered by the Institute on the coast of Samos in the north winds of previous days. The dolphin’s tail was cut and pierced with a sharp object. A second dead bottlenose dolphin was also found in the same area with deep wounds, while Animals are expected to be autopsied by experts.

Possible intentional killing of more dolphins

In an attempt to determine who may have committed this heinous crime, Ms. Miliou states that two dolphins were probably killed by a Greek or Turkish fishing boat.

“What is shocking is the footprints that both dolphins had, as well as the mutilated tail of one of them. By my estimation, the dolphins were trapped when the trawler bags full of fish floated near the surface of the sea,” she notes.

Painful death

The only thing you can be sure of is that in such cases, the death of dolphins is very painful. According to her, either someone threw the dolphin alive into the sea, after cutting off his tail so that he could not swim, which led to his terrible death, or he was first killed and then thrown into the water.

“There are even times when criminals remove the stomach cavity of dolphinsso they end up at the bottom of the sea and hide their tracks,” says Ms. Miliou, emphasizing that a solution must be found.

“Both Greek vessels and vessels of other countries fishing in the Aegean do not have observers with them, while European legislation requires their presence. If this were observed, then the protection of marine life would be ensured and fishing activities would be controlled,” she concludes.

It is noted that the “striped dolphin” refers to the species of dolphins that are threatened with extinction, along with “common dolphins” and “nasal dolphins”.

The only enemy is man

“It is clear that the only enemy of these species is man,” she says in turn to “K”. WWF Greece Marine Biodiversity Manager Amalia Alberini.

She notes that the risks to dolphins have increased in recent years. Harassment by pleasure boats, by-catch by fishing boats, noise pollution, climate change and offshore oil and gas production can cause serious harm to marine mammals.

Seismic research in the Ionian Ocean is the focus of researchers

“What we know for sure is how dolphin releases have increased in recent years due to the above reasons. For example, last year we dealt with whales that were also trapped in Alimos, and all evidence shows that this was due to artificial seismic vibrations that caused them to lose their bearings,” says Ms Alberini.

She notes that the attention of scientists is now focused on the Ionian Sea, where seismic surveys are being carried out to detect hydrocarbon deposits.

“The scientific community has repeatedly warned about the significant presence of marine mammals in places where companies conduct seismic surveys, and made proposals for their protection,” he said.

Institutionalized action plans only in theory

He also notes that there are solutions to keep the sea creatures from being killed or washed away, however sometimes indifference “wins”.

“Fishing boats avoiding certain areas, using special fishing gear that does not hurt dolphins, and devices that repel animals from approaching are some of the measures to stop counting dead marine mammals,” he adds, concluding that action plans in many cases exist only in theory, not in practice.