more than 900 dolphins have washed up on the Atlantic coast this winter

At least 910 dolphins have washed up on Atlantic coast beaches since mid-December, according to a new count from the Pelagis Oceanographic Observatory, which recorded a new wave “intense” more than 400 strandings over the past week. “About 420 strandings of small cetaceans” were counted on the Atlantic coast between March 10 and 17, including 120 on the weekend of March 11 and 12 alone, a figure “unprecedented”detailed Pelagis on Friday March 17, specifying that these were still censuses “unbound”.

“The condition of the carcasses appears to be very varied indicating that the drift conditions have brought dolphins back to shore that have been dead for only a few days to several weeks”notes Pelagis, which has been recording cetacean strandings on the Atlantic coast since 1970. “The few carcasses examined mostly reveal traces of capture in fishing gear”argues the organization that associates the CNRS and the University of La Rochelle.

A first wave “intense” had occurred at the beginning of the year, with more than 360 strandings recorded from mid-December 2022 to the end of January 2023, before a relative lull (130 strandings between the beginning of February and the beginning of March), linked according to Pelagis to conditions of carcass drift towards the side “less favorable”. From 2017 to 2020, there were an average of 850 strandings each winter.

Towards spatio-temporal closures of certain fisheries

The majority of strandings usually occur in February and March, when dolphins come closer to the coast to find their food and therefore have the most interaction with fishermen, according to environmental protection associations. Faced with NGOs and scientists who are calling for a temporary interruption of fishing, the government has so far favored measures to document the phenomenon and technical solutions, such as on-board cameras or repellents on boats.

At the end of February, the public rapporteur of the Council of State spoke out in favor of the establishment within six months of spatio-temporal closures of certain fisheries deemed responsible for the death of many dolphins. The decision of the highest French administrative court, seized by several environmental associations, is expected soon.