Dolphins becoming increasingly reliant on fishing trawlers for food

Dolphins becoming increasingly reliant on fishing trawlers for food as new research finds bottlenose dolphins following bottom trawlers at high rates in the Adriatic Sea. The study reports that three out of four bottom trawlers observed in the region were accompanied by dolphins scavenging in their wake. Conservationists interpret the pattern as evidence of insufficient prey elsewhere, after decades of seabed disturbance from trawling. Scientists monitored trawlers off Veneto and Marche, Italy, conducting 859 inspections over 148 days from 2018 to 2025, and photographed dolphins to identify individuals. Results published in Frontiers in Mammal Science show that 76% of trawlers in the Marche area and 26% in Veneto were followed by dolphins. Dolphins followed an average of 41% of otter trawlers and 35% of midwater trawlers, but only 1.5% of beam trawlers. Researchers estimated the combined bottlenose dolphin populations of Veneto and Marche exceed 1,000 individuals and that 86% to 90% were photographed while following trawlers.