Dolphin Survival Issues

Source: © www.radiocamp.com/dolphin/survival.html

Besides stranding, disease, parasites, sharks, and killer whales, there are many other threats to us, dolphins. But probably the greatest threat of all to us, peaceful creatures, is man. Deep in the ocean large schools of tuna and other types of fish swim. Fishermen try to catch these tasty fish by setting a large net near the bottom of the sea. The fish get caught in the net and are pulled up onto a large fishing boat. This seems simple enough, but it's not. Other sea creatures get caught in the net too, among them are dolphins. The fishermen have no way of knowing if a dolphin is caught in their net or not, until it is pulled up onto the boat. By then, the poor dolphin could be so tangled up in the net that it's impossible for the fishermen to free it, and the dolphin dies.

To prevent this from happening you could start a letter writing campaign to your local representative. Tell him/her how you feel we,dolphins, should be protected from harm. Or, if that is too much trouble for you, always be careful what type of tuna you buy. Make sure it is labeled Dolphin which means they use a type of net that allows a dolphin to escape if caught.

Another type of threat to dolphins is when they throw themselves upon the beach which causes their skin to dry out and they die. This is called stranding. No one knows why dolphins do this, including us dolphins, but some scientists think it is because our internal compass may have gone haywire. If you live near the coast and you want to help stranded dolphins, you can volunteer to join your local stranding network. Please, we need all the help we can get.

Finally, pollution is another danger to us, dolphins. Every day, tons of garbage and other waist products are dumped into the ocean by careless industrial polluters. Two types of dolphins, (the Susu of India and the Bajaiji of China) have almost been completely wiped out. One of them happened to be a distant friend of mine, that I haven't talked to for years. I fear that I may never have a chance to talk to him again.

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