APRIL 8,
2019
by
Nicholas Paphitis
The
Aegean Sea has seen a "very unusual" spike in dolphin deaths over the
past few weeks, a Greek marine conservation group said Monday, adding that the
rise could be linked to massive Turkish naval exercises in the area.
Fifteen
dead dolphins have washed up on the eastern island of Samos and other parts of
Greece's Aegean coastline since late February, according to the Archipelagos
Institute.
Its head
of research, Anastassia Miliou, told The Associated Press that 15 is a
worryingly high number compared to "one or two" in the same period
last year.
The group
said while it's still unclear what caused the deaths, the spike follows the
Feb. 27-March 8 Turkish "Blue Homeland" exercises—the country's
largest ever—that made constant use of sonar and practiced with live
ammunition.
The
deafening noise of sonar, used by warships to detect enemy submarines, can
injure dolphins and whales, driving them to surface too fast or beach
themselves—with sometimes fatal consequences—to escape the din.
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