Violent Gulf Coast dolphin deaths a mystery - and an outrage - for scientists

[wfgodot]

Violent dolphin deaths a mystery for scientists (AP)

ALONG THE GULF COAST (AP) — Over the past several months, dolphins have washed ashore along the northern Gulf Coast with bullet wounds, missing jaws and hacked off fins, and federal officials said they are looking into the mysterious deaths.
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"It's very sad to think that anyone could do that to any animal," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal scientist for NOAA's southeast office in St. Petersburg, Fla. "There have been some obviously intentional cases."

Fougeres said five dolphins have been found shot. In Louisiana, two were shot in 2011 and one in 2012. And in Mississippi, three were found shot this year, the most recent one last week, which was first reported by the Sun-Herald newspaper.

Besides the shootings, a dolphin in Alabama was found with a screwdriver stuck in its head over the summer.
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"I think it is outrageous," said Moby Solangi, the executive director of Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss. "These animals are very docile, very friendly and they're very curious. They come close to the boats, so if you're out there, you'll see them riding the bows. And their curiosity and friendship brings them so close that they become targets and that's the unfortunate thing."
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much, much more at link above

 

[Nova]

Violent dolphin deaths a mystery for scientists (AP)

much, much more at link above

Ah, jeeze...

 

[wfgodot]

Ah, jeeze...

Yeppers.

As Melville wrote, albeit in another context, "Ah! what are our creeds, and how do we hope to be saved?"

 

[Nova]

Yeppers.

As Melville wrote, albeit in another context, "Ah! what are our creeds, and how do we hope to be saved?"

We read here all the time about man's inhumanity to man; and we all know about man's inhumanity to pets and domestic animals. And those acts, while remaining incomprehensible, offer hints to their origins in our understanding of the human psyche and its capacity for displacement.

But one has to go out, locate and get close enough to dolphins to brutalize them. Assuming the attacks are the work of an individual or single group, what is the motivation? A traumatic viewing of a rerun of FLIPPER?

If I were to suddenly lose my mind, I don't think I'd take it out on animals I had to track down.

 

[Sonya610]

If I were to suddenly lose my mind, I don't think I'd take it out on animals I had to track down.

Like the article says -- they come close to the boats. I am guessing these sick individuals see it as an opportunity to hurt something with no risk of getting caught, and virtually no punishment if they DO get caught.

Most humans don't care unless *gasp* it could escalate to attacks on humans.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Dolphins found shot, slashed, stabbed in northern Gulf of Mexico

Attacks on the dolphins carry fines and jail sentences.

Solangi said he doesn't know why anyone would want to kill the dolphins. "They already are under a lot of stress from the oil spill, the dead zone," he said. However, in the past fishermen and charter boat captains have been convicted of harming dolphins they thought were taking bait or fish.

(Emphasis mine.) There is no excuse.

 

[Sonya610]

Someone needs to put a big bounty on their heads. I can't even imagine people hiring a charter boat for a vacation fishing spree and then watching the captain put a screwdriver through a dolphin's head.

They are probably killing far more than the few that wash up on shore.

 

[Nova]

Like the article says -- they come close to the boats. I am guessing these sick individuals see it as an opportunity to hurt something with no risk of getting caught, and virtually no punishment if they DO get caught.

Most humans don't care unless *gasp* it could escalate to attacks on humans.

Thanks for the correction. I was using "track down" hyperbolically. I just meant you have to make an effort to attack a dolphin. You won't find him curled up on your front porch.

 

[Nova]

Dolphins found shot, slashed, stabbed in northern Gulf of Mexico



(Emphasis mine.) There is no excuse.

Your quote didn't come with your post, but maybe fisherman are under stress from the oil spill, too, and are taking it out on the dolphins.

Makes me rather sick, to be frank.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Your quote didn't come with your post, but maybe fisherman are under stress from the oil spill, too, and are taking it out on the dolphins.

Makes me rather sick, to be frank.

There is no excuse… that justifies the killing of these dolphins.

 

[Nova]

There is no excuse… that justifies the killing of these dolphins.

I hope it didn't seem that I was justifying or excusing the behavior. Human beings have intellect that is supposed to help us refrain from acting out badly under the influence of stress.

Mine was just a theory of causation, not an attempt to defend the killers.

 

[wishuwerehere]

I hope it didn't seem that I was justifying or excusing the behavior. Human beings have intellect that is supposed to help us refrain from acting out badly under the influence of stress.

Mine was just a theory of causation, not an attempt to defend the killers.

I didn’t believe you were defending the acts of these barbarians.

I was clarifying my own stance.

 

[Quiche]

Barbarians, is right! I can only hope they were already dead when they were mangled by a sick mind. The first thing that popped into my head was "what do they eat?" I hope they investigate small time fishermen who sell the same fish as the dolphins eat.

The jaw injury seems as though some sort of trap may have been employed... No matter what, it's disgusting.