Does Flipper Need To Go On A Suicide Watch?

MayorBob.

Posted to SciTech on Sat Jun 14, 2008 at 10:42:47 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Dolphins, underwater mammals closely related to whales and porpoises, have been acting strangely recently. Actually, they've been acting suicidal, from the looks of a number of incidents. Last year, there was a case of two separate groups of dolphins (totaling 152) which beached themselves in Iran. Now, with the recent beaching of 26 dolphins in Cornwall, England people are beginning to ask why dolphins would want to commit suicide?

When the suicide alarm was raised last year in Iran, it was "dismissed as an attempt to project human motives on a wild animal." Scientists have observed stressed-out, captive dolphins committing suicide by battering themselves against the sides of tanks. But, in the wild, that sort of behavior isn't typical. Not only atypical but on a scale unheard of before. According to Vic Simpson from Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre "we have seen strandings on beaches, sometimes with five to seven dolphins - but never on a scale like this." The dolphins beached at Cornwall all had stomachs and lungs filled with mud from the bed of the Percuil River.

Speculation as to what caused the atypical dolphin behavior ranged from an infection to an attack by a killer whale to an underwater disturbance. Needless to say, homo sapiens isn't off the hook yet. Reports of live firing exercises by the Royal Navy led to speculation the 26 dolphins may have been frightened by an explosion. But a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said the live firing exercises took place many miles away and several days before the beachings. However, the MoD also said there was a survey vessel in the area performing some high definition sonar scans being done of the river bed. At the time of the Iranian beachings, it was noted that US Naval vessels operate in the area and use ultrasound tracking devices which might interfere with dolphins' eco-location. A mass beaching of dolphins occurred in Florida back in 2005 near where a US Navy vessel was reportedly projecting short range sonar soundblasts. Sarah Dolman of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society seems satisfied that they have found what's causing the dolphin suicides, "Sonar is the most plausible (reason) based on previous strandings around the world." Considering that the military aren't the only ones using ultrasonic or high definition sonar, the question becomes, what do we do about it?