HC Deb 27 October 1993 vol 230 c650W
Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of recorded fatalities of(a) dolphins and (b) whales and other cetaceans in United Kingdom waters in each of the last five years.

Mr. Yeo

The available figures on cetacean deaths come from a DOE-sponsored scheme for co-ordinated reports of stranded cetaceans around Great Britain. The scheme does not extend to Northern Ireland. The figures are:

Year Dolphins Whales and other cetaceans
1988 44 63
1989 43 95
1990 52 98
1991 78 116
1992 256 159

The 1992 figures appear to reflect an unusual series of strandings of common dolphins off the south-west coast of England in spring 1992 and additional information for Scottish waters following the appointment of a co-ordinator for Scottish reports.