While the
biggest factor behind the diminished numbers of large baleen
whales
has
been whaling,
dolphins,
albeit hunted in some
countries, are generally not hunted and their numbers were not
drastically diminished in the whaling
history.
By J._D. Ebberly via Flickr.com
Instead, being smaller, dolphins are much more often
than the large whales taken by predators
such as sharks and killer whales. Like the
large whales, dolphins
suffer from water
pollution, since the chemicals released in water can cause
different diseases.
Like baleen whales they suffer from noise
produced by
boats (both whale and dolphin ears are very sensitive), and competition
with fishermen.
Unlike the large whales, which most often are strong
enough to break fishing
nets or at least pull themselves up to the surface to
breath, dolphins are killed when accidentally caught in fishing nets.
One thing that particularly kills dolphins is plastic bags in the water.
Because dolphins eat jellyfish, they will mistake a plastic bag for a
jellyfish and swallow it - causing obstruction in the digestive system
and death.
Therefore, it is not only important to not to throw plastic
bags into the water or leave them on the beaches, but also pick one up
and put into a trash can.
Almost certainly you will
just
have saved a life of a dolphin because once in the water, it's only
matter of time before a dolphin swallows a plastic bag and dies!
So the main things to do to help to save dolphins are:
* not to pollute water
and particularly remember the plastic
bags, (they are one of the worst)
* be against overfishing, (The
dolphins gotta eat!)
* be against
over-shipping due to the noise that they create
* oppose Naval Sonar testing
in or near known dolphin habitat areas
* take a stand against any and all
pollution that ends up in our oceans
* use eco-friendly products
like bio-degradable soaps
* help clean up the beaches
(We have a community beach clean-up once a year in my community. About
40 miles of beaches get cleaned up and most of the garbage goes into
recycling instead of the ocean!
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ensure
that all the information on this
site is correct,
whale-and-dolphin-facts.com
is
not to
be blamed should
there be a mistake.
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