Archipelago dolphins drown in salmon net

Last live sighting during weekend

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Two dolphins, which had been seen swimming in the Turku Archipelago last week, were found drowned in a salmon net south of Parainen.
      The carcasses were reportedly found Monday morning, and were sent to the Turku Zoological Museum. From Turku they will be sent to the Finnish Food Safety Authority in Oulu, and from there to the collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki.
      The larger of the two dolphins is believed to be the mother of the smaller one. The beak and tail of the young dolphin showed marks apparently caused by a strong woven fishnet.
      Based on the markings, Ari Karhilahti of the Turku Zoological Museum said that the calf had probably first been caught in the net, and the mother tried to help it, and got tangled in it herself.
      Dolphins need to breathe about once every 20 minutes to survive.
     
Karhilahti believes that the death of the dolphins was a pure accident, and says that the fisherman is probably suffering most over the incident.
      He also says that he appreciates that the carcasses were brought in for examination while they were still fresh, and were not just left in the sea.
      Kaj Mattson of the regional professional fishermen's association says that the nets were not those of professionals, and he believes that they belonged to an amateur fisherman.
      The larger of the two was about two metres long, weighing more than 80 kilos. The smaller one is 1.60 metres long and weighs less than 50 kilos.
      The last sightings of the live dolphins were during the weekend in the area between Korppoo and Nauvo, and north of Nauvo.
      "It might have been expected that something like this would happen to them, or that they might come down with a disease. It was also feared that if they were very long in this water with low salinity, they could get some skin disease", said Trygve Löfroth, regional head of nature conservation working for the forest management organisation Metsähallitus.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  White-beaked dolphins sighted off Finnish island of Korppoo (6.11.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat