moonglowMysterious Cornwall Dolphin Deaths: Mass Suicide?
June 15th 2008 05:01
South Cornwall, England was the set of a horrific scene on Monday, June 9, as more than 40 dolphins swam inland and beached themselves on the shores of the Percuil River. Many of them were coaxed back into the open water, but 26 died on the riverbanks. It was the biggest stranding of marine animals in Britain in over three decades.
Postmortem examinations of the bodies revealed a strange phenomenon: the dolphins had all ingested and inhaled large amounts of mud from the estuary as they swam upriver.
Vic Simpson, founder of the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, was conducting the examinations on behalf of the Zoological Society of London and compared the scene to a mass suicide.
His comparison is similar to an incident in Iran last year, when more than 150 dolphins washed up on the coast, leading some people to suspect that the marine mammals had killed themselves. However, most zoologists agree that this is a case of anthropomorphism.
Some scientists postulated that the culprit in this case may have been a predator chasing the school inland and up the river. One other possible theory is an underwater disturbance. The Royal Navy was firing weapons for testing and utilizing a submarine, and the Ministry of Defense was also testing a short-range sonar device about 12 miles off Falmouth, where the dolphins were found. Both groups maintain that their devices having caused the incident would be "extremely unlikely."
Neither of these theories would explain the mud in the dolphins' lungs and stomachs, either.
More examinations are scheduled, and I will report further as more results are announced.
Postmortem examinations of the bodies revealed a strange phenomenon: the dolphins had all ingested and inhaled large amounts of mud from the estuary as they swam upriver.
Vic Simpson, founder of the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, was conducting the examinations on behalf of the Zoological Society of London and compared the scene to a mass suicide.
His comparison is similar to an incident in Iran last year, when more than 150 dolphins washed up on the coast, leading some people to suspect that the marine mammals had killed themselves. However, most zoologists agree that this is a case of anthropomorphism.
Some scientists postulated that the culprit in this case may have been a predator chasing the school inland and up the river. One other possible theory is an underwater disturbance. The Royal Navy was firing weapons for testing and utilizing a submarine, and the Ministry of Defense was also testing a short-range sonar device about 12 miles off Falmouth, where the dolphins were found. Both groups maintain that their devices having caused the incident would be "extremely unlikely."
Neither of these theories would explain the mud in the dolphins' lungs and stomachs, either.
More examinations are scheduled, and I will report further as more results are announced.
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