Dutch scientists were investigating on Wednesday the mysterious death of harbor porpoises whose carcasses have been discarded since last week on the northern beaches of the Netherlands.

In total, around a hundred of these animals have been spotted stranded in the Wadden Islands, an archipelago located in the North Sea off the Dutch coast.

“Since Thursday we have seen huge numbers of harbor porpoises stranded” on the shores, said Annemarie van den Berg, director of SOS Dolphin, a foundation dedicated to the rescue of cetaceans in the Netherlands.

Dead animals continued to be washed ashore "until today (Wednesday) although their numbers appear to be declining," she added.

They would have died in the same area

It is not unusual for porpoises to be washed up on Dutch beaches - between 200 and 900 each year - but the number of stranded animals "is much higher than normal, which is alarming," said Annemarie Van den Berg.

The porpoises were in the same state of decomposition, suggesting that "all these animals died in the same area," she said.

Two dozen of these marine mammals were sent to the veterinary department at Utrecht University, where at least one individual was being examined on Wednesday.

“The real reason for this massive stranding remains a mystery,” said Lonneke IJsseldijk, a marine biologist who performed the first autopsy.

Several hypotheses considered

According to Dutch media, the porpoises may have been disturbed by the construction of an off-shore wind farm or by navy exercises that began last week around the Wadden Islands.

"It is possible that something happened where the animals were, which killed them," Lonneke IJsseldijk said in a statement.

But it could also be a disease, she added, stressing that all hypotheses had to be considered.

The analyzes will include testing for morbillivirus, a virus that causes fatal epidemics in dolphins and other marine mammals.

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