A young male striped dolphin was found stranded on the northern coast of Samos following several days of strong northerly winds.

Members of the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation’s stranding response teams, which remain on constant alert in multiple areas across the Aegean Sea, immediately travelled to the site to conduct an examination. Initial findings indicate that the animal’s death was due to pathological causes.

The marine area between Samos, Chios, and Ikaria is a region of global environmental importance, hosting seven species of marine mammals. For the past 26 years, the Archipelagos Institute has been monitoring the populations of these seven marine mammal species in the area, including one of the largest groups of striped dolphins in the Aegean, estimated at around 300 individuals.

However, in recent years, multiple strandings of striped dolphins have also been recorded in the same region that were not linked to pathological causes, as in this case, but instead to deliberate killings. In previous years, at least six striped dolphins bearing clear signs of violent death – such as severed tails and injuries caused by harpoons – were found along the northern coast of Samos after drifting from the nearby marine trench area.