Rare dolphin species threatened by big fishnets
Monday, 21 January 2013
Rare dolphin species threatened by big fishnets
BRAZIL: The long-beaked La Plata River dolphin, a small species living in in South America's Atlantic coastal waters, is increasingly threatened with extinction from big-net fishing, Brazilian researchers warn. At last 1,000 of these dolphins die every year near the coast of (Brazil's) Rio Grande do Sul,” scientist Emanuel Carvalho Ferreira told AFP Friday.
Ferreira led a study funded by cosmetic giant Boticario's Foundation for Nature Protection on the mortality of these marine mammals which “showed that fishnets have become increasingly bigger over the past few years and now can be 30 kilometers (19 miles) long.” “This is a virtually insurmountable barrier for these small dolphins,” said Ferreira, who works with Rio Grande do Sul's marine mammals laboratory and with the KAOSA non-governmental organization campaigning for the protection of the La Plata River dolphin.
There are currently an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 of these river dolphins, which grow to be between four and six feet long (1.20 to 1.80 meter) and weigh up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds).
It is the only species of river dolphins that can be found in salt water.
More:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/01/21/wld01.asp
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A rescued baby La Plata river dolphin[/center]
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