As part of a NATO maneuver, the German Navy blew up 39 World War II mines in the Fehmarnbelt Marine Protected Area (Germany) in late summer. It was reported that 18 dead harbor porpoises were subsequently found over a period of several weeks.
As part of a NATO maneuver, the German Navy blew up 39 World War II mines in the Fehmarnbelt Marine Protected Area (Germany) in late summer. It was reported that 18 dead harbor porpoises were subsequently found over a period of several weeks. According to the current state, among other things at the University of Hannover, the exact cause of death of strictly protected animals is determined.
A connection between this maneuver and the death of such a considerable number of mammals is very close, because the animals have very sensitive sensory organs, which they need for foraging.
The Fehmarnbelt is an ecological link between Beltsee and Mecklenburg Bay and a marine reserve designated as a Fauna-Flora-Habitat by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
The number of porpoises in this area is a maximum of 500 individuals. In addition, there is a high number of females with their calves in this population, as the Fehmarnbelt region is considered as a reproduction zone and the porpoises breed in the summer.
In addition to the 18 animals that were presumably the victims of the mine blasting, according to “Spiegel” Magazine alone, one of the mines ripped a five meter wide and 1.5 meter deep crater into the seabed, destroying all marine life within a radius of 30 meters.
Sea Shepherd Germany condemns the irresponsible action of the ministry and the German Navy and calls for a complete education and promotion of alternatives to mine blasting in the sea.
The endangered porpoises are protected under EU law and Member States are obliged to take measures to ensure this protection in their natural habitats. This incident, too, shows once again how political instruments and official bodies fail in part and that the existing nature conservation law is disregarded.
“Sea Shepherd Germany’s first own campaign was the Baltic Sea campaign to protect harbor porpoises. This topic is therefore very important to us. As in the past, we will actively work to ensure that protected areas do not exist only on paper.
The response of the media to mine clearance and its consequences shows that the public is becoming more and more aware of the problem on our own doorstep and that we are on the right track with our commitment to protecting harbor porpoises in the Baltic Sea.
The porpoises need every conceivable help, be it through general education or local presence. And we will continue to do our part in the future, “said Manuel Abraas, director of Sea Shepherd Germany.
https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdDeutschland/
My comment: If 18 human animals had died in a mine explosion, the media today would have declared the third world war!
Media and Navy sells horror scenarios … “if toxins had leaked out or a boat was sunk with people,” and by imagining a likely disaster, a crime against 18 nonhuman animals can be justified. And even on a protected area!
They are only whales, right? no matter if pregnant women were among them.
Some useful idiots in the country are enthusiastic about the protection of our navy and even publicly thank them for obstructing a probable disaster, in a place that most only know about Atlas, and in all these years have never presented a real danger.
Each scenario is always sold by perpetrators. And so the veterans of the Navy protect themselves from the danger of being considered an underemployed, bored troupe, that blows up seabeds and animals to protect them and us from dangers “made by navy”.
My best regards to all, Venus
The last stand of the mobile coffin Julia L.S
