The marine mammals died in the waters off the Canadian province of Newfoundland

Mar 18, 2014 20:36 GMT  ·  By

A pod made up of about 40 white-beaked dolphins is said to have died in the waters off the Canadian province of Newfoundland after becoming trapped in ice.

By the looks of it, the marine mammals were first spotted by residents of Cape Ray this past Sunday.

At that time, some of the dolphins were already dead, and the others had trouble coping with the ice closing in on them as a result of strong winds in the region.

Talking with the press, conservationist Wayne Ledwell with green group Whale Releases and Strandings explained that, by Monday morning, several other dolphins had also passed away.

Besides, the ones that did make it through the night appeared to be in a fairly poor condition.

“We first heard about them there Sunday, and some were already dead then. This morning, there were just a few still alive, but we believe they are now gone as well,” Wayne Ledwell said, as cited by CBC.

The conservationists went on to say that, over the years, several other pods of dolphins had become trapped in ice in these waters, and that locals had managed to lend them a helping hand to some of them.

However, it would appear that, this time, there was nothing that anyone could do to save the white-beaked dolphins. Hence, marine mammals were killed by the ice closing in on them.

“It's not uncommon to see them in like this, and sometimes we're able to get to them and help. But in this situation, everything went against them. There really was no time to do anything,” Wyane Ledwell reportedly told the press in an interview.

Nobody has yet had a chance to examine their lifeless bodies, but it is believed that the marine mammals died because the ice made it impossible for them to breathe properly.

Many of the dolphins sustained noteworthy injuries while trying to free themselves, and this is likely to have also contributed to their demise.

“All you can see is water boiling up where they are trying get out and underneath the ice, trying to get air,” said Bert Osmond, a resident of Cape Ray.

“They [have] no food, because where they're to is shallow water, and they're on the rocks and parts of them are sticking out of the water,” he added.

According to the people who witnessed the white-beaked dolphins' struggles to free themselves and to return to the open sea, some of the marine mammals were mothers and their calves.