Dead dolphins bearing the scars of a final struggle in large fishing nets were today (31 March) delivered simultaneously to French government offices in Paris and London. The deliveries came as Greenpeace renewed calls for a total ban on pair trawling - a form of fishing which is estimated to kill thousands of dolphins in the Channel every year.
In London, Greenpeace activists delivered the frozen dolphins to the French Embassy in Knightsbridge. The dolphins were left on the steps to the building. In Paris, the dolphins were delivered to the office of the Fisheries Minister.
Greenpeace volunteers today (9.00 AM 23 March 2005) blockaded the entrance to government offices with three dead dolphins believed to have been killed in large fishing nets. At the same time (9.00am) Greenpeace volunteers in the Channel are taking peaceful direct action to stop two French boats from 'pair trawling' for sea bass - in an effort to prevent them from killing dolphins in their huge nets. The volunteers removed the buoys from the fishing nets of the Columbine and L'Arlequin to try and halt to fishing operations.
Two dead dolphins bearing the scars of a final struggle in large fishing nets were today delivered to the French government as Greenpeace renewed calls for a ban on pair trawling - a form of fishing which is estimated to kill thousands of dolphins in the Channel every year.
The dolphins were recently recovered in the Channel by the Greenpeace ship Esperanza and stored in a freezer container. One of the mammals was lactating when her body was discovered, indicating that she had recently given birth. Sixteen French pair trawlers were fishing in a 12-mile radius of her body.
Greenpeace volunteers in the Channel today (8am 15th March 2005) stopped two French boats from pair trawling for sea bass in UK waters - to stop them from killing dolphins in their nets. An hour later (9am) Greenpeace found three dead dolphins with their stomachs cut wide open floating in the sea. The volunteers retrieved the dead animals, whose stomachs are likely to have been slit in an effort to make them sink, onto the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza, for documentation.
Greenpeace activists today continued their campaign to protect dolphins in the Channel by trying to stop two French 'pair trawlers' from fishing for sea bass. Greenpeace swimmers put themselves in the path of the two vessels Sonia Jerome and Cote d'Amour in an attempt to stop them pair trawling - a fishing method that traps and drowns dolphins in the giant net towed between the two vessels.
Greenpeace swimmers in the Channel today attempted to prevent dolphins being caught and drowned in fishing nets by placing themselves in the path of two boats dragging a huge net between them.
The UK boats Ocean Star and Ocean Crest are part of the sea bass pair trawling fleet which is estimated to kill thousands of dolphins in the Channel every year.
A dead dolphin bearing the tell-tale signs of being killed in a large fishing net was today (22 February) found floating 18 miles south of Plymouth by the Greenpeace ship Esperanza.
Observers onboard the vessel spotted the dolphin at 9.10am and, after battling gale force winds, were eventually able to bring the dolphin onboard. The Institute of Zoology and the Natural History Museum, who co-ordinate information on dead dolphins, will be contacted by Greenpeace with all the relevant information. The male dolphin measured just over two metres.
Results from a study of common dolphin numbers in the English Channel during winter months have caused renewed concern for the future survival of these animals. WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and Greenpeace are calling for a ban on sea bass 'pair trawling' in the Channel.
In a new report, researchers from WDCS have given a provisional estimate of 9,700 common dolphins in part of the Channel that overlaps the main fishing ground last winter when the survey was conducted.
Summary report of the 2004 WDCS/Greenpeace winter survey
Summary
A joint WDCS/Greenpeace cetacean survey using conventional line-transect techniques and trialling other survey methodologies, including acoustic detection, carried out between 21 January and 1 March 2004 in the Western Approaches of the English Channel.
Greenpeace has launched a legal challenge in the High Court against the government in order to save dolphins from being caught and killed in large fishing nets.
The environmental group filed papers seeking a ban on all fishing boats from pair trawling for sea bass within 200 miles of the UK - a type of fishing which is responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 dolphins in the Channel every annual fishing season.
