Immediate Action Needed in Wake of the Emerging Tragedy for Beaked Whales

2 stunned whales were found washed up on the coast of Corfu yesterday afternoon. Conclusions have been made that their disorientation and stunned state was as a result of the seismic testing that has been observed over the last weeks from the research ship SW Cook. The ship has carried out sound explosions with reverberations so strong that they can be felt along the coast of Africa. 2 weeks ago on the coast of Alimos, a region south of Athens, a beaked whale was similarly disoriented and despite efforts to revive him – perished a few days later.

The Pelagos Institute published the following warnng to be circulated yesterday: ‘When a cetacean washes up on the shores in this way – it is only the tip of the iceberg of the destruction taking place in the marine environment – because only 3-15% of the animals that will suffer serious damage reach the shores. The remaining creatures will die off and sink without ever being recorded. In addition, the total damage to the ecosystem is unknown, as the food of cetaceans, ie the mid-ocean and deep-sea squid, can also be massively impacted, with disastrous consequences for the many animals that feed on them…

The Greek Trench and the northern Ionian Sea are IMMA protected areas, ie areas of global importance for cetaceans and especially for the beaked whales. The SW Cook has been scanning and sounding these areas for weeks without any evaluation of their environmental impact. This is an environmental crime that has not been adequately publicised, and certainly has not been discussed with Greek society’.

 

‘We call on the citizens and the state to ask themselves if they want their children and grandchildren to live in a country with seas that will now be deserted and polluted? Seas where there will be no more dolphins, whales or seals and woth their waters that will be dominated by plastics, noise, pollution and mining platforms. If we do not want such a future, in which all local communities today depend on maritime tourism will wither, then it is time to pay serious attention and act in practice for our marine environment, changing course immediately!’