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Dominica announces new protections for sperm whales

Dominica has placed almost 800 square kilometers of sea off the west coast of the...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...
Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...

Poisonous algae may have killed hundreds of dolphins in Peru

Scientists from Peru’s Ocean Institute (IMARPE) think they’ve discovered the cause of the mass dolphin deaths along the northern coast of Peru: poisonous algae.

Hundreds of dolphins have washed up on different beaches in the region and, according to reports, tissue samples taken by scientists from some of the dolphins have revealed that the animals had ingested a substance that had caused their internal organs to degenerate.

Though it’s hard to know exactly what the animals could have consumed in order to produce this kind of biological reaction, scientists think that naturally-occurring toxins in certain algae could be to blame. Poisonous compounds in the algae could have been activated by changes in temperature or pollution and further tests will need to be carried out.

Meanwhile, dead marine mammals continue to be washed ashore. In Lambayeque, 79.9 % of all specimens found so far are different species of dolphin.