They were spotted on the beaches of Grand-Sable, in the southeast of this island in the Indian Ocean. Eighteen dolphins stranded on the coast of Mauritius on Wednesday, where they died, authorities said, rejecting a possible link with the oil spill that hit the same region in early August.
Some of these Electra dolphins, some of whom were in agony when they were found, appeared to have suffered injuries. Fisheries Minister Sudheer Maudhoo said they were autopsied, adding that "there was no trace of oil on them or in their respiratory system."
Many residents feared that these deaths were the result of the oil spill caused earlier this month by the grounding a few kilometers south of the bulk carrier MV Wakashio.
An "unfortunate coincidence"
Before the results of the autopsy, Owen Griffiths, an expert from the NGO Mauritius Marine Conservation Society interviewed by AFP, had considered that it could be an "unfortunate coincidence", referring to an incident similar occurred in 2005.
"Probably they followed a school of fish in the lagoon, lost their bearings and failed to get back to sea, and they sought to reach the sea by passing directly over the coral reef rather than finding the past. Panicked and stressed, they hit the corals, got exhausted and died, ”he said.
Greenpeace in a statement called for an "urgent investigation" to establish the facts.
Planet
Not quite an orca, not really a dolphin ... The false orca intrigues specialists
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