Mass stranding of common dolphins, June 2008, UK (Jan Loveridge)

A detailed report on the mass stranding in Cornwall, UK, of 26 common dolphins in June 2008 has been issued jointly by Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network (CWT MSN) and British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR).

The report complements that produced by the Defra funded UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), for whom the CWT MSN records and retrieves stranded cetaceans for post-mortem examination. BDMLR rescues live stranded cetaceans around Cornwall. Both organisations were involved in the rescue and retrieval of the dolphins in the mass stranding and have conducted an extensive investigation into the event, alongside that of the CSIP.

The report can be found at www.cwtstrandings.org/reports.htm.

The two organisation have invited the UK Royal Navy (RN) to discuss how they could minimise risk to cetaceans. The RN has welcomed the opportunity to meet the groups to develop potential areas for future collaboration.

Recently, communication between the organisations may have helped to prevent a second mass stranding of dolphins in the same area, when the CWT MSN and BDMLR alerted the RN to the presence of 20 common dolphins within the Fal river system, while sonar testing was underway. It is hoped that such dialogue will be strengthened and response mechanisms improved in the future.