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Presently, the bodies of many of the dolphins and porpoises that strand
around the UK are incinerated by local authorities for public health reasons,
and few make it so far as the Zoological Society in London for autopsy. Many
more autopsies can be performed once the centre is opened, relieving much of the
strain on both the local and national authorities and the land owner. Facilities
at the hospital will be made available to other organisations interested in the
welfare of disorientated or unwell cetaceans and we will be able to offer a safe
and quiet location for marine medics to work unhindered, should additional
resources be required. This would be especially relevant when faced with the
choice of euthanasing a dolphin on the beach or not. The duration a dolphin or
porpoise will be resident at the centre will of course depend on the level of
care required for the patient to make a full recovery. Appropriate timing for
release will be determined by expert marine mammal veterinarians. Non-invasive
ABR hearing tests only take around an hour and will not need to be repeated, so
long as hearing loss is not diagnosed.
Prompt hearing tests are
essential as the effects of noise pollution from military SONAR and civil
underwater construction activities (especially pile driving during wind farm
construction) could have serious consequences on the ecology of marine mammals.
Should these activities be shown to be damaging the inner ear and nervous system
of cetaceans, it must be detected with great urgency so the polluting
activities can be either mitigated or stopped entirely.
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