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At least 40 dolphins were found dead near Mauritius, an island off East Africa, after an oil spill from a Japanese ship contaminated the waters.
Environmentalists are calling for an investigation into the Japanese ship that has been spilling oil into the ocean since July, according to a Reuters report on Friday.
The ship was sunk on Monday.
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“There was a mother and her baby,” fisherman Yasfeer Heenaye told Reuters. “He was very tired, he wasn’t swimming well. But the mother stayed by her side, did not leave her baby to go with the group. All the way, she stayed with him. She was trying to protect him. “
Fishermen in the area expect the death toll from marine life likely to rise, after they worked to try to separate the animals from the contamination.
Hennaye described how he saw 25-30 dolphins floating in a lagoon, apparently killed by the polluted waters. He filmed a baby dolphin struggling until he too succumbed in front of them.
Hennaye reportedly asked another ship to track down the mother dolphin, after the baby had died, as her own ship was low on fuel.
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“But in a few minutes it was on its side, one fin in the water and the other out of the water, and then it started wagging its tail very, very quickly,” Reuben Pillay told the publication.
Pillay is a professional drone operator and environmentalist who filmed the events.
The mother dolphin did not float like the other deceased dolphins, but instead sank, suggesting that more marine life may have died from the oil spill.
The autopsies of another 25 dolphins that reached the shore earlier this week should be released in the next few days, Jasvin Sok Appadu of the Mauritius Fisheries Ministry told Reuters.
The oil spill is believed to be the result of a Japanese ship, the MV Wakashio, hitting a coral reef in July.
The environmental activists group Greenpeace sent a letter to the Japanese company Mitsui OSK Lines, which owns the ship, demanding to know why it was sailing so close to a coral reef.
Greenpeace noted not only the damage done to marine life, but also to the livelihoods of the people living there.
Mitsui OSK Lines responded, promising to “open a dialogue” to address the damage caused by the ship.
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“It is time to use your influence to reduce harm to the planet and people at risk. This is an opportunity to accelerate the turnaround of their business portfolio and make renewable energy the core of their business, ”Greenpeace said in a follow-up letter to the company on Thursday, demanding that they deliver on their promise.
“As long as we continue to use oil, spills and accidents like this will continue to occur.”
