A thousand dead dolphins on French beaches

 
As reported by France24:

“There’s never been a number this high,” said Willy Daubin, a member of La Rochelle University’s National Center for Scientific Research. “Already in three months, we have beaten last year’s record, which was up from 2017 and even that was the highest in 40 years.”

Though Daubin said 90 percent of the fatalities resulted from the dolphins being accidentally captured in industrial fishing nets, the reason behind the spike this year is a mystery...

Autopsies carried out on the dolphins this year at La Rochelle University show extreme levels of mutilation. [note the severed dorsal fin in the photo]

Activists say it’s common for fishermen to cut body parts off the suffocated dolphins after they are pulled up on the nets, to save the nets...

It claims many of the trawlers they watch in the region don’t activate the [dolphin-] repellent devices, fearing they will scare off valuable fish as well, and only turn them on if they are being checked by fishing monitors...

She cited scientists who predict that the current rates of fishing will likely drive the dolphin population to extinction.