Researchers are baffled after a large pod of dusky dolphins washed up on the shore of Hottentot Bay, Namibia on Friday, 6 March. The carcasses included two newborns and several immature individuals, according to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.
The reason for their beaching is unknown, as no pollution is suspected to have driven them ashore. Samples of the water were however taken to be tested.
Dusky dolphins live only in the souther hemisphere and are known for their playfulness and skillful acrobatic activities.
‘They might have become disorientated for some reason and accidentally beached themselves, or they may have rallied around a member of their group that got itself in trouble… Sadly we will never know what exactly happened to this group, and the heartbreaking images will be hard to forget,’ Lüderitz Marine Research said on their Facebook page.
Image: Facebook/Lüderitz Marine Research
