UPDATE: Speculation over dolphin’s death in Ballito

The adult dolphin that died after washing onto Willard Beach on Monday has been sent to KZN Wildlife for a postmortem.

According to KwaDukuza lifeguard Sandile Msimango the dolphin was alive for a few minutes after it had washed up.

“A woman who works at the shop nearby told us about the dolphin. We rushed over and found that the animal was still breathing. We carried it back into the water but we noticed that it could not swim and it washed back to the shore where it died a few minutes later,” he said,

Specialised Rescue Unit’s (SRU) Quentin Power said there had been an increase in the number of dolphins and whales washing up on KZN shores recently.

Read the original story: WATCH: “Confused” dolphin washes up on Willard Beach – Ballito

He said he believed the increase could be caused by the disruption caused by the seismic survey vessel off the KZN coast exploring for oil and gas.

“We suspect that these creatures guidance mechanisms are being thrown out of sync by the seismic surveys that use intense sound waves which are believed to create a vibration that is harmful to marine creatures,” said Power.

However, KZN wildlife ecologist Jennifer Olbers disagreed.

“On January 15, Petroleum Geo-Services began seismic surveys after being granted a permit by the Petroleum Agency South Africa. It is highly unlikely the animal was affected by the current seismic surveys.”

Olbers said there were two issues which are of more concern with regards to these surveys.

“One, the Petroleum Geo-Services have requested an extension of their seismic surveys further north into KZN waters, up to around Scottburgh, and two, it is generally accepted that the larger mobile marine animals, such as dolphins and whales have a greater ability to avoid the area in which the surveys are taking place, it’s the ‘little guys’ who don’t have the ability to get out of the area that is worrying, such as loggerhead and leatherback turtle hatchlings, which are currently in KZN waters and the zooplankton, which forms the basis of the marine food webs,” she said.

The Norwegian research vessel “Dr Fridtjof Nansen” featured in the Courier is not using seismic equipment for its surveys, now underway on the North Coast.

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