Dolphins in Cyprus
On the way back to Thalassa
a pod of dolphins
joined us and jumped and played in the waves alongside the boat. Captain Jon
originally from the UK
has lived in Cyprus for the past two years told us that
it was the first time he had seen dolphins in Cyprus. Michelle
who grew up in
Cyprus
called her mom in the UK to report the sightings. Pete and Kathy
cameras in hand
tried to capture the dolphins on film
running from side to
side of the boat. Eventually Pete climbed on top of the boat as we excitedly
called out sightings to him
7 o’clock
4 o’clock
etc
until it was finally
“just keeping shooting Pete
and don’t fall in!” We continued on to Thalassa
under an enormous rainbow that spanned across the sky
trailed by 5 dolphins
a
most amazing day!
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Large Schools of Dolphins Cause Trouble
NICOSIA (March 21 1997) XINHUA - Large schools
of dolphins have fled to the Mediterranean in the wake of mass deaths in the
North Sea
causing trouble for fishermen in Cyprus.
Last week
Cypriot fishermen marched on the
Presidential Palace demanding compensation for damage to their nets caused by
dolphins that were caught in them.
In a petition to President Glafcos Clerides
the fishermen said the damage caused by the dolphins ran into hundreds of
thousands of pounds (one pound equals two U.S. dollars) and called for state
money to cover the costs.
The fishermen say they find their nets damaged
on a daily basis
but are unable to take measures as dolphins are protected
animals under Cyprus law.
While demanding compensation
the fishermen
called on the government to take measures to keep the dolphins away from the
island's fishing areas.
For its part
the Fisheries Department of the
Ministry of Agriculture has been trying to find a solution to save the nets and
spare the protected dolphins.
Emilios Economou
an official at the Fisheries
Department
told
Agriculture Committee at the House of
Representatives Thursday that the problem was not unique to Cyprus
but affected
the whole of the Mediterranean. He said large schools of dolphins
as many as
250 at a time
were detected at the Cyprus coast.
He noted that the authorities had made
numerous efforts to help
fishermen
seeking advice from the U.S.
Russia and Tunisia.
However
there has been little success so far
and one such effort involving the use of special equipment to scare off the
dolphins actually ended up attracting them
he added.
The official said a new research program on
this was now under way at the University of Cyprus.
But the fishermen insisted that they respected
the fact that dolphins are a protected species
but they too wanted protection
from the state.
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