Acoustic Trauma Blamed For Massive Dolphin Deaths

Dr. Carlos Yaipen Llanos of ORCA in Peru informed Hardy Jones of Blue Voice that acoustical trauma is the cause of the Mass Mortality Event (MME) that killed an estimated one thousand dolphins along the coast of northern Peru in March 2012.

In her article, Hundreds of dead dolphins wash up along the coastline in Peru, Elizabeth Batt describes the devastating loss of the dolphins and porpoises, and the swift action by filmmaker and author Hardy Jones to document the event.

Now the necropsy results are in, and there is unequivocal evidence that the dolphins were killed by an acoustic trauma, such as loud sonar or explosive blasts (more information on potential sources of the loud sound in that region can be found here). Dr. Llanos doesn't identify the source of the trauma, but all other tests (virus, contaminants, parasites etc) are not considered factors.

The following tissue samples, provided to Blue voice by Dr. Llanos show evidence of rapid ascent, (though the scientists are not willing to speculate on what caused the dolphins to race to the surface, their bodies are adapted to adjust to depth, and normally do not aggregate bubbles in their tissues).