Porpoise found dead on a Baltic beach with a brick tied to its fluke

On 20 June around noon, the GSM was informed of a horrible find. A dead harbour porpoise had been washed up onto Fischlegerstrand beach close to the “Koralle” campground near the Baltic Sea resort of Damp. According to Gino Vecchione, who informed GSM of the sad find, “the harbour porpoise had apparently been dead in the water for some time already and someone had tied a brick to its fluke.” Hans-Jürgen Schütte of GSM offers the following explanation: “Presumably the porpoise ended up in the nets of a fisherman who not only dumped it back into the water but also wanted to make sure that the carcass would not be discovered.” Since the GSM started registering not only live sightings but also those animals found dead, it becoming evident that many stranded animals are found. Marine biologist Petra Deimer: “We know that no fisherman deliberately wants to kill the protected harbour porpoises. They are bycaught. For scientific reasons it would, however, be important to examine these victims as well and to register them in our statistics.” www.gsm-ev.de In the Baltic Sea the harbour porpoise is threatened with extinction. Every year, more animals are killed than born. No population of animals can sustain this.