Scientists to find cause of dead dolphins washing up on Istanbul shores

ISTANBUL

Officials and scientists in Istanbul have started an investigation to find out the reason behind dead dolphins washing up on the shores of the metropolis recently.

“Some 37 remains of dolphins washed up ashore in six districts of the metropolis,” daily Milliyet reported on March 2.

According to the report, four carcasses of dolphins were delivered to two different departments of Istanbul University for examination.

“The rise in the number of dead dolphins is worrisome,” İlker Arslan, the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Marine Services Department, told the daily.

“We will wait for the result of the postmortem report by scientists,” he added.

Harbour porpoise dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and short-beaked common dolphins are the three dolphin species mainly seen in the Bosphorus. There are 37 different dolphins residing in waters across the globe.

“We are face to face with a serious problem, and we need to know the reason,” Arslan said. “As we do not want the number of dolphin deaths to increase.”