Barbaric fishermen carve homophobic slurs into dead dolphins
Pedestrians were horrified to see the two corpses washed on the shore. (Twitter/SeaShepherdFrance)
French fishermen have been accused of carving homophobic slurs into the bodies of dolphins which had washed up on shore.
Two dolphin corpses were discovered by horrified members of the public on Sunday (19 February) in La Rochelle, on the Atlantic west coast of the country.
Large chunks of their skin were missing and the slurs were carved into their tails.
Sea Shepherd France, a non-profit, marine conservationist campaign group, posted images of the scene on social media, claiming that it was done as an insult to its advocacy work.
Words carved into the dead mammals included “Sea Shepherd” and “PD,” which is short for pédé – a derogatory term for gay men in France.
The organisation routinely calls for tighter regulations on fishing in France, reporting that about 6,000 dolphins are caught and killed every year on the west coast of the country alone.
One demand is to suspend popular fishing sports for four months to see how many dolphins are accidentally being caught in fishing nets, which is known in the industry as bycatch.
The campaigners believe that, due to the calls for regulations on fishing vessels, unidentified fishermen pulled the stunt as a threat.
“What a shame for the whole profession, which they discredit,” a spokesperson told The Telegraph.
“It’s carnage. We will not give up until there are concrete measures to save these dolphins.”
The advocacy group have asked for an investigation to be launched because dolphins are a protected species.
According to Sea Shepherd France president, Layma Essemlali, this is not the first time dolphins have been found mutilated on the French coastline.
Last month, the group filed a complaint after six mutilated dolphins were found on beaches.
“The sea never stops throwing up the corpses of dolphins, captured by fishing gear,” Essemlali said.
“When [they] are mutilated, it’s because they have either been eaten or [are] victims of an attempt to sink them to hide the evidence of capture.”
It’s estimated that since December, at least 370 dolphins have washed ashore, with 30 of them being reported as bycatch.
