Farewell... to a dear friend!

Addio…ad un caro Amico! Farewell… to a dear friend! intotheblue.it

        Santuario dei Cetacei – Sanctuary of the Cetaceans – extract from Wikipedia – intotheblue.it

While sailing to reach our dive site we met a dead dolphin. We are 4.5 miles off the coast of Castiglioncello, in the Province of Livorno, in the area considered the “Sanctuary of the Cetaceans” because during the summer many marine mammals come here to reproduce. It is a common Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), very presents in the Mediterranean are social animals that live in packs and that we have met many times during go out to sea.

Since the beginning of the year 2019, 26 cases of dolphin death have been reported in Tuscany, a higher average than in the same period of 2018. The causes of death are not known at the moment; scholars from the University of Siena and the Aquarium of Livorno were asked to carry out the investigations to find out the causes. Pollution, plastics, and climate change can be considered among the determining factors. Addio…ad un caro Amico! Farewell… to a dear friend! intotheblue.it

The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, is the most well-known species from the family Dolphinidae. Common bottlenose dolphins are the most familiar dolphins due to the wide exposure they receive in captivity in marine parks and dolphinaria, and in movies and television programs. The common bottlenose dolphin is the largest species of the beaked dolphins. They inhabit temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world, and are absent only from polar waters.

Delfini di Cnosso a Creta – Dolphins of Knossos to Creta – extract from Wikipedia – intotheblue.it

These deaths struck us a lot because the Dolphin has always been considered by the sailors and boaters of the whole world a friend, an allegory of the resurrection for Christians and legendary for all cultures. We find it described in Greek and Latin mythology and culture and represented in the history of art as a symbol of friendship between man and sea. Addio…ad un caro Amico! Farewell… to a dear friend! intotheblue.it