Lanzarote now has a system in place to deal with the arrival of cetaceans on its coasts. This Monday, the Cabildo of Lanzarote received state-of-the-art equipment necessary to face with guarantees the rescue and care of stranded live cetaceans in coastal areas.
The Institution thus participates in this project developed in the islands by the Loro Parque Foundation and the University Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), with the support of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The project Equipment for the rescue and care of stranded cetaceans in the Canary Islands, promoted by the aforementioned institutions, aims to strengthen this advanced response network in the Canary Islands to face the rescue and salvage of live cetaceans, in addition to developing the capacity to care for and release animals entangled in ropes or fishing gear.
The Minister of Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Samuel Martín, has personally thanked Rafael Zamora, scientific director of the Loro Parque Foundation, and Manuel Arbelo, ISUA professional and in charge of directing the previous training and the simulation, for the initiative. “From today, Lanzarote has this system to be able to act and be effective in case we find cetaceans on our coasts.”
This material for the rescue, especially of dolphins and pilot whales, consists of a refloatation pontoon, adapted stretchers, isothermal blankets, a water sprayer and other elements destined for emergency assistance for animals stranded on the coasts of the Canary Islands. The day held this Monday at the Cabildo of Lanzarote included a previous theoretical teaching, where the latest protocols regarding strandings were addressed; and then, the attendees carried out a practical exercise on El Reducto Beach (Arrecife).
Councilor Samuel Martín has detailed that “together with the delivery of the material by the Loro Parque Foundation, a training course has been carried out, not only for the environmental agents of the Cabildo, but also for other professionals who can collaborate in the deployment of this emergency, such as the Local Police, the Seprona, the Civil Guard, the firefighters of the Security Consortium or members of Civil Protection”, declared Martín, who also thanked the nearly thirty professionals for attending the activity, including the technicians, staff and agents of the Environment Area of the Island Council.
Rafael Zamora, scientific director of the Loro Parque Foundation, stated that this delivery of material “is part of the implementation of this rescue system on the islands, something complicated worldwide. But here we are lucky to have the material, the pontoons, and the protocols that we continue to improve. And now Lanzarote already has them.”
The Loro Parque Foundation and the ULPGC have manufactured and purchased all the material with a subsidy from the Government of the Canary Islands, to deliver it to the Environment areas of the councils, so that they have it available. The delivered pontoon has been redesigned and adapted for the refloating of injured animals. The pontoon, which measures about 2 meters and is designed for small animals, and the materials have been tested during the last years in different islands.
About 50 strandings each year
The Canary Islands are a hotspot of cetacean biodiversity in the North Atlantic. 30 species of dolphins and whales have been described in the archipelago, making it the region of Europe with the highest diversity of cetaceans. Its great presence facilitates a large number of strandings, around 50 each year.
The species that strand most frequently are small and medium-sized specimens of striped dolphins, spotted dolphins or common dolphins, as well as tropical pilot whales, gray pilot whales or bottlenose dolphins. To a lesser extent, beaked whales, sperm whales or fin whales, of greater size, strand. They are almost always individual strandings.
What to do if we find a specimen
In Lanzarote there are less than two individual strandings per year; and in most cases these cetaceans suffer from an advanced disease. Although our first reaction is to redirect them to the sea, “the truth is that this action could prolong their agony”, detailed the expert Rafael Arbelo, from ISUA.
The protocols in this regard say that the first thing we have to do when we find a stranded dolphin on the coast is to call 1-1-2, providing as specifically as possible the exact location where the animal has been found. In the experience of this day they have made one thing clear: we should not touch or get too close to the animal, unless it is strictly necessary and at the request of the person in charge.
Finally, the ISUA recalls that the first care for cetaceans when they strand on our coasts, almost always individually, must be "increasingly professionalized". The stranding of several animals is very unusual in the Canary Islands, although some will remember a case that occurred in August 2016 on the coast of Playa Blanca (Yaiza-Lanzarote), when bathers in Las Coloradas prevented a group of disoriented pilot whales from ending up on the beach sand.
