Oceanic dolphins

Copenhagen's famous 'Little Mermaid' statue has been vandalized by animal rights activists calling on Denmark to put an end to the slaughter of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, according to RT.

The bronze statue, which sits on a rock by the waterside at Copenhagen's Langelinie promenade, was spray-painted red on Tuesday.

The Forestry and Water Affairs Directorate has started an investigation into fishermen amid allegations they killed dolphins with a gun following a tipoff from a biology professor in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Whale rescuers were cautiously optimistic on Feb. 12 that the current wave of mass beachings in New Zealand was over, after hundreds of the creatures died after being stranded ashore.

The crisis began early Feb. 10 when a pod of 416 whales were found stranded on the 26-kilometer Farewell Spit, with hundreds more following them over the weekend.

More than 400 whales were stranded on a New Zealand beach Friday, with most of them dying quickly as frustrated volunteers desperately raced to save the survivors.

It was one of the largest mass beachings recorded in New Zealand, where strandings are relatively common, the Department of Conservation said.

An endangered juvenile female dolphin was found dead from a shotgun wound after it washed ashore on the Bosphorus coast in Istanbul?s Bebek district on May 26. 

Scientists of the Institute of Marine Biology and the University of Montenegro on Monday launched a research project to identify the number and types of dolphin in the Albanian part of the Adriatic,  in order to try and preserve one of the most endangered spieces in the region.