European funding is being sought for an underwater alarm aimed at reducing the horrific toll of dolphins which drown when they become caught in fishing nets. The bodies of 11 dolphins have been found washed up on Cornwall's beaches since January 4 - and the creatures almost certainly drowned after being enveloped in the massive nets of mid-Channel trawlers, according to experts.
Dolphins in pursuit of "easy pickings" were probably swept up and drowned when the nets were hauled in, said Cornwall Wildlife Trust chairman Dr Nick Tregenza. Now the trust is to apply for a European Commission grant to develop an underwater dolphin detector and alarm. Dr Tregenza said it would take around six months to develop the device. "If dolphins can be frightened away at just the right time it may be possible to reduce the mortality," he said. He envisaged the electronic device being towed behind fishing boats to detect the dolphins' distinctive high-frequency clicks, which would then trigger a "screamer" to frighten the mammals away.
There was a reasonable chance that the problem of dolphin deaths could be solved, he said. Cornish Biological Records Unit spokeswoman Stella Turk said post mortem examinations would be carried out on seven of the dolphins washed up in Cornwall this month.
In 1992, when the bodies of more than 100 dolphins were found on the region's shores, post mortem examinations of 30 of them showed that they had all suffocated.