I was
not aware that like special days, there are special months too ~ and March is Dolphin
Awareness Month ! While the monthlong
effort to raise awareness for these marine mammals is supported by businesses
that keep cetaceans in captivity for profit, it’s still a good occasion to highlight
dolphins and to draw attention to their vulnerability to hunting, fishing,
capture, and exploitation.
Dolphins are very
intelligent aquatic marine mammals.
There are places where they attract huge crowds displaying variety of
acts – they are considered very friendly to humans. There by some accounts, are 43 different
species of dolphins that have been recognized. 38 of them are marine dolphins and
5 of them are river dolphins. They are
very entertaining due to the leaps that they make out of the water. Some of
them leap up to 30 feet in the air as they do so. They have to come to the
surface to for water at different intervals to get air. This can be from 20
seconds to 30 minutes between when they get air. The body of the dolphin is
grayish blue and the skin is very sensitive to human touch and to other
elements that could be in the water.
Pic credit : www.dolphins-world.com/
Even though
dolphins have 100 teeth, they don’t use them for eating. They do use them to
get the fish though and then they swallow them. They can consume up to 30
pounds fish per day. They usually work as a team in their pod to get the school
of fish surrounded and balled up. From there, they can plow through the middle
and eat plenty as they do so. Dolphins
are highly intelligent marine mammals and are part of the family of toothed
whales that includes orcas and pilot whales. They are found worldwide, mostly
in shallow seas of the continental shelves.
Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making
them a favorite of wildlife watchers.
Dolphins live in
social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey
and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and
taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish. Dolphins can swim
at a speed of up to 25 miles per hour for a long time. This is about 3 times
faster than the fastest humans in the world. The average lifespan of a dolphin is 17 years.
However, some of them that have been observed in the wild lived about 50 years.
A group of dolphins is called a pod. The
bonds of dolphins in a pod are very intense. They have been observed carrying
for the sick, the elderly, and those that have been injured with great care. They
are able to see well in the water due to the retina gathering light in a unique
way. The skin of the dolphin is very
delicate and it can easily be damaged by contact with other surfaces.
There is news that world’s largest operator of dolphin parks may
open yet another facility — this time in St. Lucia — but many concerned locals,
scientists and animal advocates are trying to put a stop to it. Dolphin
Discovery owns captive dolphin facilities around the world and offers visitors
the opportunity to interact with the marine mammals. Even though to tourists it
may seem like a dream to swim with a dolphin, to dolphins it can be quite
harmful. Undercover investigators continue to expose the dark side of these
tourist programs. Fortunately, the world is continuing to turn against keeping
whales and dolphins in captivity, and the tourism industry is taking steps to
stop promoting these types of programs. Down under, New Zealand's Maui dolphin,
the world's smallest, is headed to extinction after a half-century of lethal
encounters with fishermen's nets, says a report of government-funded scientists detailing its decline and opposition Labour and Greens
call for net bans - which opinion polls show most Kiwis support - the ruling
National Party, headed by a fishing magnate, denies there is any problem.
But if
you ever thought that dolphins are adored across the globe, you are wrong ~ and
read this report in MailOnline .. .. ..
Sicilian fisherman
have started shooting dolphins with spear guns and rifles, claiming that the
protected species it eating too many fish and destroying their nets. The
Italian fishermen have launched a two-day strike over the 'greedy' striped and
bottlenose dolphins, claiming they're ruining their livelihood around the
Aeolian Islands. Filicudi Wildlife Conservation estimated that there are
approximately 100 dolphins in the region. Fishermen say revenues from sales
have dropped by 70 per cent in some areas.
An official of a local fishing
cooperative that represents 119 fishing boats, said the fishermen are calling
for a state of natural disaster declaration and are seeking compensation from
the government.
According to them -
'Every night, there is a war for survival,' 'We must clarify, we don't have anything
against dolphins, but a we must find a solution: It's either fishermen or them
[dolphins].' The fishermen say that the dolphins have learned to follow their
boats and raid their nets of fish. As the dolphins eat up the fish in the area,
fishermen are going to extreme measures to get rid of the mammals. There have
been increased instances of animals washing up on the beaches having been shot
with spear guns ! The battle between fishermen and dolphins is particularly
fierce in the Aeolian Islands , an archipelago of volcanic islands in the bay
between Sicily and Italy's mainland. As the dolphins eat up the fish in the
area, fishermen are going to extreme measures to get rid of the mammals by
shooting them with spear guns and rifles.
A spokeswoman from Filicudi Wildlife
Conservation said that the number of dolphins is not any larger than it was 15
years ago. 'The problem is that fish has decreased in the sea and cetaceans
swim closer to boats to eat,' she added. One solution to keep dolphins away from boats
is to provide devices with 'pinger' devices, that will emit a frequency that
will repel dolphins but not fish. The device will be trialed on some boats in
May.
So dolphins too get
killed by fishermen who for protecting their commercial interests, are out to
kill !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
23rd Mar
2017.
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