People like dolphins. Screw anything else with flippers but dolphins are ok. People care about populations. Not the indivinduals, just the total number, like a real life game of top trumps.Well here’s a news story that everyone can get worked up about. Fishing is now endangering the dolphin population of Britain as well as the fish.

Experts call for action to save Britain’s dolphins

Guardian Unlimited

Bottlenose dolphins at play. Photograph: Stephen Frink/Getty
 

Dolphins could disappear from part of the UK’s coastline unless action is taken to protect them from commercial fishing, researchers warn.

More than a dozen species of dolphin, whale and porpoise are regularly seen off the coasts of Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

But a report analysing 14 years of cetacean records from south-west England shows an alarming decline in the sighting of some species - particularly bottlenose dolphins.

It also shows an increase in the number of dead dolphins washed up on beaches.

The problem was highlighted when numerous dolphin carcasses were found along the south-west coastline after the container ship Napoli was grounded a mile off Sidmouth in Devon in January.

The joint report by Marine Connection and the Wildlife Trusts highlights the 14 species of whale, dolphin and porpoise that are regularly spotted off the south-west coast, dubbed England’s Dolphin Coast.

Lissa Goodwin of Marine Connection said: “Entanglement in fishing gear is the number one cause of death in stranded dolphins, particularly common dolphins and harbour porpoises.

“If we want to reduce human impacts on dolphins and protect the region’s dolphins then we need to take urgent action.”

The report shows that, overall, more cetaceans are reported now than in 1990. But this may be because more people are aware of the importance of reporting sightings rather than an indicator of an increase in numbers.

Sightings of bottlenose dolphin have decreased since 1990 and many scientists believe the south-west population is in decline.

Experts believe the number of dead dolphins and porpoises found on the south-west’s beaches is less than 1% of the total biocatch - dolphins caught in fishing nets.

Dr Goodwin said: “What we are seeing now really are the last dolphins to frequent our shores.

“Certainly with bottlenose dolphins I think we could be seeing the last of them in the south-west.”

She added: “It’s difficult to set any specific timeline but it is really quite worrying.”

The South West Dolphin Report recommends a number of urgent actions to save the dolphins including the use of acoustic alarms on fishing nets, known as pingers, that emit warning sounds every few seconds to alert nearby animals to the presence of nets.

It also calls for research into why dolphins and porpoises get caught in fishing nets and for postmortems to determine the cause of death of those washed ashore.

The report also says that more power should also be granted to fishery management bodies enabling them to close down fisheries known to catch dolphins.