Share

Peru dolphin deaths still a mystery

Lima - Peruvian authorities are still trying to unravel the mystery of why hundreds of dolphins ended up dead on beaches in the country over the past 2 1/2 months.

Deputy Environment Minister Gabriel Quijandria told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that studies are incomplete but officials hope to complete their research on the likely causes next week.

He said that the carcasses of 877 dolphins and porpoises were found between February and mid-April on the beaches of northern Peru. About 90% were long-beaked common dolphins, while others were Burmeister porpoises, Quijandria said.

"The most probable hypothesis is the possibility of an infection with a virus," he said. "There are scientific articles about the incidence of morbillivirus, a type of distemper, in cetaceans in Peru, and that can be ruled out or proven next week."

He said officials don't believe the dolphins' deaths are related to seismic oil exploration work that was carried out off northern Peru between February 8 and April 8 by the Houston-based company BPZ Energy.

Rafael Zoeger, the company's manager in Peru, said the seismic studies were carried out using a ship that fired discharges of compressed air toward the sea floor. It's customary for oil companies to carry out such surveys with air-guns that emit sounds and send out underwater pulses.

Zoeger said the company does not believe the dolphins died due to the oil exploration work.

The Peruvian environmental group Orca has said that sound waves from the seismic work appeared to be the likely cause.

But Quijandria said that "so far there is no evidence linking the deaths of the dolphins to the seismic work."

Open question

Hundreds of dolphins have at times turned up dead on beaches in various parts of the world, though the number of dolphins counted in northern Peru was particularly high. Quijandria said the country hasn't seen such a large die-off of dolphins in recent years.

He said Peru hopes to receive help from experts at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in studying whether the dolphins and porpoises had some sort of virus.

Researchers elsewhere are studying the effects on marine mammals of the air-guns used in seismic studies. But George Ioup, a physics professor at the University of New Orleans, said "it's pretty much an open question at this point... whether harm is caused to the animals".

Katie Moore, manager of marine mammal rescue and research for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, said some areas in the world tend to be hotspots for mass strandings of whales or dolphins, from Cape Cod to Australia and New Zealand.

"This winter we had an event involving over 200 common dolphins here on Cape Cod," Moore said. "We experience mass strandings several times each year. The events may involve only a few animals or hundreds. The causes of these events are often not determined, which is a frustrating fact."

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 399 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 568 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
910.50
+1.5%
Palladium
1,011.50
+1.0%
Gold
2,221.35
+1.2%
Silver
24.87
+0.9%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE