French marine researchers say an unusually high number of dead dolphins have washed up on France's Atlantic coast beaches since January. The mass deaths, widely blamed on industrial fishing, have alarmed animal welfare groups and prompted France's ecology minister to launch a national plan to protect them. Dead dolphins are lined up in La Tremblade on the Atlantic coast of western France. (Olivier van Canneyt, Observatoire Pelagis/CNRS/Universite de la Rochelle/Associated Press)Daubin said 90 per cent of the fatalities resulted from the dolphins being accidentally captured in industrial fishing nets. France has been shaken into action after a record number of dead dolphins have washed up on the country's Atlantic coast this year, many clearly victims of industrial fishing.

Source: CBC News March 28, 2019 21:33 UTC