A mutilated striped dolphin was found stranded on the north shores of Samos island. Its tail was severed and had a sharp piercing wound – evidence of its deliberate killing.
Through assessing the weather patterns of preceding days and the distribution of striped dolphin populations in the region, it is estimated that this dolphin was killed in the waters between Samos, Chios and Turkey.
It has to be noted that this was not the first time we have observed this type of incident in this area, where there is persistent activity by large industrial fishing vessels – Greek and Turkish bottom-trawlers.
Researchers from the Archipelagos Institute are working to use electronic transmission broadcasted by fishing vessels during the days before the stranding. We are also scanning the coastline to locate other possible strandings as in such events of deliberate killings we frequently locate more than one deliberately killed dolphins.
