#Seventeen dead dolphins wash ashore on island of Mauritius after oil spill

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Dolphins lay dead on the shore on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.
Eshan Juman/Greenpeace via AP

Seventeen dead dolphins washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius after a wrecked oil tanker caused an ecological crisis in the area — sparking anger from residents, according to reports.

Some of the animals had bloody injuries when they were discovered Wednesday and others traveling in the pod appeared severely sick, researchers from the island nation told Reuters.

“The dead dolphins had several wounds and blood around their jaws, no trace of oil however,” said Jasvin Sok Appadu of the country’s fisheries ministry. “The ones that survived, around ten, seemed very fatigued and could barely swim.”

Some residents were furious over the heartbreaking discovery.

“Waking up this morning to witness so many dead dolphins on our seashore is worse than a nightmare,” Nitin Jeeha, who lives on the island, told the BBC.

The lifeless mammals were taken to the Albion Fisheries Research Centre for an animal autopsy but results hadn’t been released Thursday.

They were found roughly a month after the Japanese-owned MV Wakashio tanker struck a coral reef on July 25 and began to leak hundreds of tons of oil.

Some scientists said the dolphins likely died from being poisoned by the fuel.

“I think there are two possibilities: Either they died from tons of fuel spilled in the sea, or they were poisoned by the toxic materials on the bow of the ship that was sunk offshore,” said environmental consultant Sunil Dowarkasing.

Environmental activists called on authorities to release the autopsy results “to better understand why the dolphins died.” But the group, Eco-Sud, was still waiting for a response Thursday.

The wildlife at risk from the spill include the critically endangered  Pink Pigeon, along with clownfish and mangrove forests, whose roots serve as nurseries for fish.

Earlier this month, volunteers fished dead eels and starfish from oily ocean waters nearby as they tried to clean up damage to the island’s pristine beaches.The full effect of the spill is still unfolding.

With Post wires