This can't be good.
The dolphins that died after beaching in Cornwall had ingested debris and mud, leading one of the scientists who examined them to compare their deaths to “mass suicide”.
Vic Simpson, a pathologist who examined some of the 26 dead mammals, said today: “On the face of it, it looks like some sort of mass suicide - but the question is why? The dolphins had swallowed and inhaled big chunks of mud from the estuary. Their lungs and stomachs were full of it. That is very bizarre indeed.”
Simpson, who founded the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre in Truro and is examining the dolphins on behalf of the Zoological Society in London, said: “We have seen strandings on beaches, sometimes with five to seven dolphins - but never on a scale like this.”
The bodies were found at four sites on the River Percuil in south Cornwall on Monday. Rescuers guided some surviving mammals back out to sea.
There are several theories, including that the dolphins may have been upset by some sort of underwater disturbance.
