While July 23 marks World Dolphin Day, the animalist party organized an action on the beach of Fort-Mahon (Somme) on Saturday to raise public awareness of “the alarming disappearance of dolphins”. Each year, more than 10,000 dolphins die on the beaches and in French territorial waters.
In metropolitan France, dolphins are mainly present on the Atlantic coast and in the Mediterranean Sea. Saturday, July 22, the eve of World Dolphin Day, the animalist party decided to carry out an action to raise public awareness of the protection of these cetaceans throughout the territory. Especially in Fort-Mahon-Plage, in the Somme.
“If we want politicians to take it up, it has to be a national debate, otherwise it won’t have enough impact. We must support all French deputies to protect the dolphins“, underlines Thierry Vandeplassche, party correspondent in the Somme, who sells postcards to tourists on the beach on Saturday July 22, 2023. On the back, a QR code allows you to learn more about the dangers that threaten dolphins, a wild species protected at national and European levels.
The party is campaigning for tougher regulations. “What can be important is to create no-take zones. It is absolutely necessary to limit or even ban industrial fishing. It is also necessary to limit pollution and noise pollution which are increasingly important“, supports Thierry Vandeplassche.
The main dangers for dolphins are: fishing still authorized in some countries such as Japan and the Faroe Islands; bycatch; food scarcity due to global warming and overfishing; plastic and noise pollution as well as the risks associated with boat propellers; and dolphin captivity.
According to scientists, more than 10,000 dolphins die each year on the beaches and in French territorial waters. If the majority of these cetaceans sink to the bottom of the water, others, more and more numerous in recent years, wash up on our beaches.
Thus, between December 1, 2022 and April 3, 2023, around 1,380 dead small cetaceans were found stranded on the Atlantic coasts and 70 on the Channel coasts, according to the Pelagis observatory, which has recorded cetacean strandings on our coasts since 1970. And 92% of these stranded animals are common dolphins. The main cause of mortality remains capture in fishing gear.
On a visit to Brest, as part of the European Maritime Days, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries estimated, on May 24, 2023, that “more efforts must be made by the French authorities” to avoid accidental captures of dolphins. Virginijus Sinkevicius thus pointed a “very worrying trend“.
On March 14, 2023, the NGO Sea Shepherd carried out a shock action and exposed, in front of the European Parliament in Strasbroug, seven dolphins found stranded on the beaches of Vendée.
For its part, the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against France in July 2020 for its lack of effectiveness in saving common dolphins. She again put pressure on France in 2021 by asking it to temporarily close fishing areas.
The Council of State had also been seized in 2021 by several environmental defense associations which demanded suspensions of fishing in the Atlantic for a period of three months in winter and one month in summer.
In March 2023, the Council of State ordered the government to close certain fishing areas in the Bay of Biscay for appropriate periods in order to preserve dolphins. The government has six months to take action.
“These closures will complement the acoustic deterrents by fishing vessels that have already been deployed.“, specifies the high jurisdiction. The Council notes however that “equipping fishing boats with acoustic deterrent devices, already initiated or planned by the State, does not sufficiently reduce accidental catches“, nor of “guarantee a favorable conservation status for small cetacean species in the Bay of Biscay“.
On July 20, 14 bottlenose dolphins were trapped by the tide in a cove in Plévenon (Côtes-d’Armor). The National Stranding System was activated to involve specialists and the cetaceans were able to return to the sea with the return of the tide.
On July 18, a disembowelled dolphin was discovered off the island of Oléron (Charente-Maritime) by a yachtsman. A complaint against X has been filed by Sea Shepherd France, which excludes the thesis of the accident.
In case of discovery of a dolphin carcass on the beach, the Pelagis observatory reminds that it is important not to touch the animal. If a stranded dolphin is discovered, contact the National Stranding Network at 05 46 44 99 10.