Last modified on Tue 29 Dec 2020 08.21 EST
Dolphins are increasingly dying slow, painful deaths from skin lesions likened to severe burns as a result of exposure to fresh water, exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Researchers in the US and Australia have defined for the first time an emerging “freshwater skin disease” reported in coastal dolphin populations in the US, South America and Australia.
While cetaceans can survive in fresh water for short periods, sudden and prolonged exposure – such as when an animal becomes trapped, or the salinity of their habitat is affected by heavy rainfall – has been found to cause a form of dermatitis.
Coastal News Today | World - Fatal Freshwater Skin Disease in Dolphins Linked to Climate Crisis
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Rara enfermedad está matando a miles de delfines y científicos descubren el origen
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Saturday, 26 December, 2020 - 05:30
A dead dolphin is taken to the marine fish farm of Mahebourg, Mauritius, on August 28, 2020. Reuters file photo Cairo - Hazem Badr
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a number of dolphins were found dead from a fatal skin disease near New Orleans, Louisiana s biggest city. The same incident has been observed in numerous parts of the world, but the exact cause of this mysterious disease has never been known.
Today, 15 years later, a new study carried out by researchers at the Marine Mammal Centre in Sausalito, California, and the Murdoch University in Australia, suggested it might be caused by the environmental changes in the dolphins marine habitat that are linked to climate change. The study was published in the latest issue of the Scientific Reports journal.