Burrunan dolphin deaths linked to Fresh Water Skin Disease caused by climate change

Australian scientists have, for the first time, determined the cause of mysterious skin lesions found in a rare species of endangered bottlenose dolphins in Victoria’s east.

Since September, six dead Burrunan dolphins have been reported in the Gippsland Lakes and all of them showed similar discoloured ulcers on the skin’s surface.

Finally after decades of research, Australian marine animal experts have been able to fully characterise the lesions and come up with a name for the condition — Fresh Water Skin Disease (FWSD).

So what is it?

Equivalent to human ‘third degree burns’

Fresh Water Skin Disease occurs when there is a sudden increase of fresh water in a usually salty water system.

It then causes skin lesions on marine…