400 dolphins found dead on Zanzibar coast

link

Whenever this happens I am saddened. I have swam with dophins and it is totally awesome. One needs to wonder what really happened here and if it isn't a sign of some military issue, or perhaps the oceans toxicity buildup.

In the United States, experts were investigating the possibility that sonar from U.S. submarines could have been responsible for a similar incident in Marathon, Florida, where 68 deep-water dolphins stranded themselves in March 2005.

A U.S. Navy task force patrols the East Africa coast as part of counterterrorism operations. A Navy official was not immediately available for comment, but the service rarely comments on the location of submarines at sea.

www.otago.ac.nz...

Above link has a simple explanation of how toxins get to the higher animals in the food chain.

The thing about the toxin theory is, how would it affect 400 dolphins at once? Unless they came upon an extremely toxic school of fish. Which could be possible I guess.

Originally posted by Griff
The thing about the toxin theory is, how would it affect 400 dolphins at once? Unless they came upon an extremely toxic school of fish. Which could be possible I guess.

Agreed...and then the REALLY important question here is:

WHAT could kill 400 dolphins all at once. This is crazy! And sad

There are those who say that when something big, like an earthquake, is about to happen... the animals can sense it on a level that most of us can't. Other times, their navigational systems might be screwed up for some reason. Something isn't right though.

this is weird. Only the other day, i read about hundreds of starfish being found dead:


starfish found dead

probably two unrelated items, but strange to read about them within 2 days of each other.
Do these things happen often, does anyone know?

WHAT could kill 400 dolphins all at once. This is crazy!

400 dolphins, thats prob the same as
700 people at least. All at once dropping dead, it is crazy.

One word ULF

Experimental submarine Ultra low frequency communications I believe are
solely responsible for all beachings around the world. It distrupts normal sonar and confuses the animals.

Biologists have for the most part, been baffled by most beachings by whales and
dolphins. There really is no valid natural cause.

Originally posted by TheHorseChestnut
One word ULF

Experimental submarine Ultra low frequency communications I believe are
solely responsible for all beachings around the world. It distrupts normal sonar and confuses the animals.

Biologists have for the most part, been baffled by most beachings by whales and
dolphins. There really is no valid natural cause.

I'm inclined to agree with that, it's the sonar that is torturing these poor animals. Chemical runoff from pollutants don't do any good though, that's for sure.

It'd be interesting to know if beachings have ever been known to have happened pre-submarine days.

Just wanted to share some links to show that this has been going on for several years now, but this latest incident is the largest find of dead dolphins so far.

********************************

In June 2004 one hundred thirty-nine dolphins, along with numerous marine turtles and beaked whales, were found dead along the southern shores of Mauritania. This was the third June in a row that the morbid finding of numerous dead dolphins had been made in this country. But June 2004 constituted the largest dolphin death to date.

In response to what appeared to be a growing annual event, scientists from West Africa's Institute of Oceanographic Research and Fishing pledged to initiate a special program designed to observe the dolphins in the area around the same time every year in hopes of learning what caused the dolphins to die en masse. A team of scientists from Holland performed various testing on samples taken from the dead dolphins and were unable to find any type of virus that could have been the cause of the deaths, but still feared a viral infection could be the root cause.

But the African continent is not the only location in which dead dolphins have littered the shore lines. In November, 2004, more than a 100 whales and dolphins died after inexplicably beaching themselves along the shores of two islands off Tasmania.

On April 24th of this year it was reported that Bulgarian authorities had found 25 dead dolphins along the shore of the Black Sea on the 21st of the month.

References

1. Scientists Puzzled by Dead Dolphins in Mauritania

2. Beached whales die off Tasmania

3. Bulgaria Finds 25 Dead Dolphins on Black Sea Coast

Don't put it past the U.S. Navy (or any Navy) to be running ops in those regions. We're at war and the industry is booming--war machine in full gear for world at war.

And then they have the nerve to use the dolphin as a symbol of their craft, wearing it on their dress uniforms to distinguish themselves from a regular squid, airman, or seabee.

Marine experts say that the dolphins died of a natural disaster, known as confused eco-location. The dolphins were not from Zanzibar, they were immigrants from Southern Africa.

external source

According to this news source, the cause is yet undetermined. Further tests to be done on the brains of some of the dolphins.

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) -- Scientists tried to discover Saturday why hundreds of dolphins washed up dead on a beach popular with tourists on the northern coast of Zanzibar.

Among other possibilities, marine biologists were examining whether U.S. Navy sonar threw the animals off course.

The animals may have been disturbed by some unknown factor, or poisoned, before they became stranded in shallow waters and died, said Narriman Jiddawi, a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Science of the University of Dar es Salaam.

Don't want to believe anything til the tests are done myself. Possible cover-up!? Probably never know the real truth.

Wouldn't be that the schuman frequency change? Or the moving of the pole?

Moving of the Pole?

Do you mean magnetic pole? This is something I have not considered.
Maybe the chaotic nature of the magnetic field is contributing in some sense.
Could flucuations in the magnetic field affect sonar location?

May I introduce a strange theory and ask your opinion?
I know, maybe I am far away from the answer, but it is just a theory...

You surely know about Ol Doinyo Lengai´s activity these days: the only active volcany on Earth that erupts with a carbonatite, a type of igneous rock rich in carbonates such as calcite and dolomite. Ol Doinyo Lengai igneous rock is rich in Sodium.
When exposed to moisture, natrocarbonatite quickly transforms in composition and texture and, being extremely water soluble is easily washed away by rains...
Source: National Geographic

Ol Doinyo Lengai´s eruption started around 30 March, forcing villagers living near the volcano to evacuate. Furthermore, there were reports of polluted water sources and destroyed vegetation, but no reports of deaths or injuries.
Volcano World

Is it possible for this eruption to, someway, affect Dolphins?
If water sources are polluted, is it possible for this water to flow into the Ocean and cause the death of these Dolphins? Could volcanic gases get to the Dolphins by the air?... Is a big quake going to happen? A tsunami?


What is really amazing is the death of the Dolphins and not having a reason for it

Still no answer to this mystery, though they are not through with the investigation. All they know so far is that their stomachs were all empty, but they still aren't certain why.

my.earthlink.net.../4456d940_3ca6_1552620060502346165707

Preliminary examination of their stomachs indicated the dolphins had either not eaten for a long time or had vomited severely. Their general condition, however, showed that they had not starved, she said.

Experts planned to further examine the dolphins' stomachs for traces of poison, including from the toxic "red tides" of algae.

[edit on 5/2/2006 by Relentless]

[edit on 5/2/2006 by Relentless]