LONDON — More than two dozen dolphins may have been killed after becoming disoriented by British navy sonar exercises, a marine animal protection group said Wednesday.
The Royal Navy denied that a survey vessel using side-scan sonar was to blame in the stranding of 32 dolphins in shallow waters.
“It is considered extremely unlikely that this operation could have affected the mammals in any way,” the navy said. The ship was mapping the seabed about 14 miles off the southwest coast of England.
But Marine Connection, a whale and dolphin protection charity, insisted the underwater noise could have disoriented the animals and pushed them into dangerous waters.
“Something has definitely spooked these animals,” said Liz Sandeman, its director of operations.
The common dolphins — which usually shy away from the coast in favor of deeper waters — were found beached in and around a creek off the Percuil River, near Falmouth, on Monday. Some were rescued, but 26 dolphins suffered painful, protracted deaths.
Campaigners say post-mortem examinations showed that the animals appeared healthy and their stomachs were empty, indicating they were scared into heading up the river.
Rodney Coates, an expert on underwater acoustics, said the sonar could well have hurt the dolphins, who use similar frequencies to locate their prey. Coates said that if the dolphins’ hearing was affected, they were doomed.
“Sound is to the dolphin what sight is to you,” Coates said. “A deaf dolphin will be a dead dolphin, it’s only a question of time.”
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