Dead dolphin found

We've just found a dead dolphin bearing the tell tale signs of being killed in a large fishing net, floating 18 miles south of Plymouth.

Observers onboard our ship, MY Esperanza, spotted the dolphin at 9.10am and, after battling gale force winds, were eventually able to bring the dolphin onboard.

View a slideshow of the evidence.

The Institute of Zoology and the Natural History Museum, who co-ordinate information on dead dolphins, will be contacted by Greenpeace with all the relevant information. The male dolphin measured just over two metres.

MY Esperanza left Falmouth on 17 February 2005 to campaign for a ban on pair trawling for sea bass in the English Channel - a fishing method that could be responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 common dolphins every year.

An independent team of researchers from WDCS is onboard to further assess the conservation and welfare threats to whale, dolphin and porpoise populations.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sarah Duthie, onboard the Esperanza, said: "This dolphin is just one of thousands that are killed by huge fishing nets every year in the Channel. It's another one that your kids won't be able to see, and that's why the government must ban pair trawling before it's too late."

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