The data comes from a survey carried out by the Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Program, from September 30th to October 15th. As the species approaches the coast to breed from the spring, there are fears that the number of deaths this year will exceed that of the last two years. In 2021, 235 died and in the previous year, 173.
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According to the coordinator of the Gremar Institute for the rescue of marine animals, Andrea Maranho, since monitoring began in 2016, the number of deaths has increased by 20%. Deaths caused by fishing nets rose from 17% to 45% during this period.
The porpoise is nicknamed the “invisible dolphin” because it is a rare and very shy animal – it does not jump out of the water like other dolphins. As spring is the species' reproduction period, their presence is common at this time in shallow waters of the Coast, close to the coast. They feed on fish, such as sardines, hake and manjuba, which also attract fishermen. As the porpoise has a long snout, it ends up getting stuck in fishing nets.
The porpoise is one of the smallest dolphin species in the world, found only in South America, and is critically endangered, according to the official list of Brazilian species threatened with extinction. In Brazil, the species is found from Itaúnas, in the north of Espírito Santo, to the extreme south of the Rio Grande do Sul coast.
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