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Showing posts from March 9, 2017

WHY SPINNER DOLPHINS STRANDED IN SAUDI ARABIA

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Lost Spinner Dolphins are casualties of Houthi militants During an incoming tide, 10 non-navigating spinner dolphins swim blindly into a shallow swimming area close to the town of Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.  Their echo-navigation system was rendered defective by a large explosive set off when Houthi militants attacked a Saudi warship with three small boats off the coast of Hodeida, Yemen 30 January 2017. (see more below) The Saudi rescue teams tried to get the deafened dolphins to swim back to deep water. But with their biosonar system not working, they could not swim into the incoming current. The drag forces in the water simply turned them around and pointed them into the path of least drag. All swimmers must have a sense of direction when they swim in a flowing current. If not, they will simply swim with the flow like a blind duck. After 4 days of effort, the rescuers loaded 10 non-navigating spinner dolphins into a vehicle and transported them to a different location where the