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Thousands protest in Mauritius over dead dolphins, demand resignations
Reuters
August 29, 2020
Environmentalists have called for a probe into whether the dolphins died due to the oil spill from Japanese ship MV Wakashio
SharePeople protest against the government's response to the oil spill disaster in early August as they gather in front of Prime Minister's Office in Port Louis, on the island of Mauritius on August 29, 2020. — AFP/Fabien Dubessay
Thousands of protesters demonstrated in the Mauritius capital Port Louis on Saturday to demand an investigation into an oil spill from a Japanese ship and the mysterious death of at least 40 dolphins that have been found near the site of the spill.
Environmentalists have called for an investigation into whether the dolphins died as a result of the spill caused when the bulk carrier, the MV Wakashio, struck a coral reef last month.
One protestor held a banner with a dolphin covered in oil reading “our lives matter” and another held one calling for the government to resign. Mauritian flags were waved across the packed square of St Louis Cathedral.
“We do not trust the government and the diluted information they’ve been feeding us regarding the management and responses to the oil spill,” Fabiola Monty, 33 a Mauritian environmental scientist, told Reuters from the square.
The government has said it will carry out autopsies on all the dead dolphins and has set up a commission to look into the oil spill. Two investigations are being carried out: one by the police on the crew’s responsibilities and one by a senior Shipping Ministry official on what happened to the ship.
So far veterinarians have examined only two of the mammals’ carcasses, which bore signs of injury but no trace of oil in their bodies, according to preliminary autopsy results.
The autopsy on the first two was conducted by the government-run Albion Fisheries Research Centre.
Autopsy results on 25 dolphins that washed ashore Wednesday and Thursday are expected in the coming days, according to Jasvin Sok Appadu from the Fisheries Ministry.
Local environmental group Eco-Sud, which took part in Saturday’s protest, said in a statement on Friday that representatives from civil society should be present during the autopsies and called for a second opinion from independent specialists.
Dying mother dolphin struggles to save baby
The baby dolphin rolled over on its side, floating on the surface. Its mother repeatedly nudged its head above the oily waves in a lagoon in Mauritius, where environmentalists are demanding an investigation into the deaths of dozens of dolphins following the oil spill.
The footage — obtained by Reuters from a fisherman who tried to help rescue the dolphins — showed the last desperate moments of the mother and her calf before they both died.