LATEST UPDATE 13:05:20
Necropsy carried out shows Zafar was hit by some type of vessel, (probably a boat or ship) suffering major damage to his body by the collision. It’s thought his missing tail fluke was due to a propeller strike. His stomach was full of fish, indicating he was otherwise a healthy animal. Such sad news.
We were deeply saddened to receive news from colleagues at SOS Dolfijn that the solitary dolphin known as Zafar has been found dead on a beach in the Netherlands.
In early May Zafar was sighted in the port of Amsterdam. It is not uncommon for solitary dolphins to follow vessels and it is thought this is what Zafar did, travelling several hundred miles from France.
Having entered the lock at IJmuidena, plans were made to guide Zafar safely back out to deeper water. It appeared that this rescue effort had gone well as the dolphin was last sighted on 5 May around Callantsoog (north of Amsterdam), but he obviously had travelled south again as unfortunately Zafar was discovered dead on the beach at Wijk aan Zee on Tuesday 13 May with his tail fluke missing. A necropsy is now underway to determine cause of death and we will provide an update when available.
Marine Connection has been monitoring the phenomenon of solitary cetaceans for many years and in 2019, the organisation launched the updated Second Edition of its Lone Rangers report, which lists solitary cetaceans globally. Zafar was first sighted in 2018 in France, and in the summer of 2019 joined another solitary dolphin, called Georges, who remains in France currently.
