Mediterranean dolphins are starving

A third of the bottle-nose dolphins swimming off Israel’s Mediterranean coast are too thin, apparently due to a lack of food from overfishing, a researcher said today.

A five-year study followed 74 dolphins, who were identified by their dorsal fins, comparable to fingerprints in humans. Photographs showed that ribs were visible in one third of the dolphins, said Aviad Scheinin, a doctoral student who lead the study at the University of Haifa.