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ARCHIVED - Two bottlenose dolphins released from fishing nets in La Azohía
Swordfish also had to be rescued after being accidentally caught in the almadraba fishing nets
Two bottlenose dolphins were released back into the open water of the Mediterranean on Monday in La Azohía, in the bay of Mazarrón, after they were accidentally caught the day before by fishermen using the traditional local “almadraba” technique.
While this is an unusual occurrence it is not unheard of, and on this occasion the task of setting the dolphins free was made more complicated by the fact that various swordfish had also become trapped in the net. It was not until Monday morning that the fishermen were finally able to cut the netting and shepherd the dolphins and swordfish to safety, having first managed to extract some of the catch which was of commercial value.
During the procedure members of the naturalist group ANSE were present to film the release and were able to identify one of the dolphins as an individual already registered in their catalogue of 699 marine mammals sighted over the last 20 years. The animal was first spotted in Torrevieja on 28th April 2019 along with 15 companions, and again on 6th October of the same year near the fish farms of San Pedro del Pinatar.
The southern Costa Cálida features one of the largest bottlenose conservation zones in Spain, covering an area of over 150,000 hectares in the “Valles Submarinos del Escarpe de Mazarrón”.
The video below shows the rescue of the two dolphins, during which members of ANSE worked with the fishermen and cut the nets to free the trapped dolphins; as the video shows, several large swordfish also made a break for freedom and escaped from the nets.
These species generally reappear in the area as the water begins to warm up over the winter and are most common between June and October. A ban on longline swordfish and tuna fishing was introduced in Murcia during the first three months of this year, and another will be in place in October and November.