Dolphins were among several types of animals the US Central Intelligence Agency began training and testing for secret missions in the 1960s
Dolphins were among several types of animals the US Central Intelligence Agency began training and testing for secret missions in the 1960s GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / DAVID MCNEW

After a mysterious mass stranding that has occurred on an island beach off West Africa, almost 130 dolphins have died. The experts are yet to comprehend what could have been the trigger behind the mass stranding of dolphins leading to these deaths.

BIOS Cape Verde, a volunteer environmental association, expressed their concern on Facebook over the tragic deaths of dolphins after locals and tourists have recalled seeing around 163 melon-headed dolphins washing ashore on a beach on the island of Boa Vista, Fox News reported.

This sad sight has driven some tourists to volunteer and drag the mammals back to the sea. All their efforts proved futile when many of them returned to the shore and died subsequently.

Approximately 136 dolphins were buried on the beach with the help of bulldozers.

Experts from BIOS have collected samples from 50 dolphins and are studying to ascertain the real reason behind the unrestrained deaths. They also seized four of the dolphins and froze their carcasses for in-depth analysis.

There will be a session held by Spanish scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for training the locals on performing necropsies in case the incident happens again.

Almost 300 dead and dying dolphins have stranded themselves in masses since February in many other places apart from Cape Verde Islands which is about three times the usual number, CBS NEWS reported.

The incident left scientists in a fix. They are exploring several probable reasons behind the indiscriminate deaths. The skin lesions on many recovered dolphins indicate freshwater exposure which is contaminated with chemicals, pollutants or the combination of the two. Another trigger behind the deaths, the scientists believe, is the lingering effects of the oil spill.

Scientists are not ruling out other factors like sickness, navigational errors, being chased by a predator, rapidly falling tides, extreme weather conditions to have caused the deaths, Valley News Live reported.

A local news outlet, OPAIS was told by the officials with BIOS on Saturday that there was still no “right explanation” for the deaths.

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