Editing Dolphin (section)

===Humans===
{{See also|Dolphin drive hunting|Cetacean bycatch}}
[[File:Whaling in the Faroe Islands.jpg|thumb|Dead Atlantic white-sided dolphins in [[Hvalba]] on the [[Faroe Islands]], killed in a [[dolphin drive hunting|drive hunt]].|alt=Rows of dead dolphin lying on concrete]]
Some dolphin species are at risk of extinction, especially some river dolphin species such as the Amazon river dolphin, and the [[Ganges river dolphin|Ganges]] and [[Baiji|Yangtze river dolphin]], which are critically or seriously endangered. A 2006 survey found no individuals of the Yangtze river dolphin. The species now appears to be [[functionally extinct]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Yangtze dolphin may be extinct |author=Douglas Williams for Shanghai Daily |date=December 4, 2006 |url=http://english.cri.cn/3100/2006/12/04/63@170330.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114073844/http://english.cri.cn/3100/2006/12/04/63@170330.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2018 |access-date=January 13, 2018}}</ref>

[[Pesticides]], heavy metals, plastics, and other industrial and agricultural pollutants that do not disintegrate rapidly in the environment concentrate in predators such as dolphins.<ref>{{cite web|first=Stephen R. |last=Palumbi |author-link=Stephen Palumbi |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooAIIeo4AJQ&feature=youtube_gdata | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ooAIIeo4AJQ| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=TED: Stephen Palumbi: Following the mercury trail |via=YouTube |date=June 30, 2010 |access-date=July 25, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Injuries or deaths due to collisions with boats, especially their [[propeller]]s, are also common.

Various fishing methods, most notably purse [[seine fishing]] for [[tuna]] and the use of [[drift net|drift]] and [[gill net]]s, unintentionally kill many dolphins.<ref name="Clover2008">{{cite book|last=Clover|first=Charles|title=The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=OMY-gEKMod8C}}|year=2008|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25505-0}}</ref> Accidental [[by-catch]] in gill nets and incidental captures in antipredator nets that protect marine fish farms are common and pose a risk for mainly local dolphin populations.<ref name="Díaz López, 2006">{{Cite journal
|last1=Díaz López| first1=Bruno
|last2=Bernal Shirai |first2=J.A.
| year=2006
| title=Bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') presence and incidental capture in a marine fish farm on the north-eastern coast of Sardinia (Italy)
| journal=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK
| volume=87
| pages=113–117
| doi=10.1017/S0025315407054215| s2cid=86115152
}}</ref><ref name="Díaz López, 2006b">{{Cite journal
| last=Díaz López| first=Bruno
| year=2006
| title= Interactions between Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins (''Tursiops truncatus'') and gillnets off Sardinia, Italy
| journal= ICES Journal of Marine Science
| volume=63
| pages=946–951
| doi=10.1016/j.icesjms.2005.06.012
| issue=5| bibcode=2006ICJMS..63..946D
| doi-access=free
}}</ref> In some parts of the world, such as [[Taiji, Wakayama|Taiji]] in Japan and the [[Faroe Islands]], dolphins are traditionally considered food and are killed in [[harpoon]] or [[dolphin drive hunting|drive hunts]].<ref name="auto">
{{cite web
 |last        = Matsutani
 |first       = Minoru
 |url         = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f1.html
 |title       = Details on how Japan's dolphin catches work
 |work   = [[Japan Times]]
 |date        = September 23, 2009
 |page        = 3
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090927022232/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f1.html
 |archive-date = September 27, 2009
}}</ref> Dolphin meat is high in mercury and may thus pose a health danger to humans when consumed.<ref>
{{cite web
|last=Johnston |first=Eric
|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f2.html
|title=Mercury danger in dolphin meat
|work=[[Japan Times]]
|date=September 23, 2009
|page=3
}}</ref>

[[Queensland|Queensland's]] [[shark culling]] program, which has killed roughly 50,000 sharks since 1962, has also killed thousands of dolphins as bycatch.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/aussie-shark-population-is-staggering-decline/news-story/49e910c828b6e2b735d1c68e6b2c956e| title = Aussie shark population in staggering decline. Rhian Deutrom. December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.}}</ref><ref name="afd_cull"/> "Shark control" programs in both Queensland and [[New South Wales]] use [[shark nets]] and [[drum line (shark control)|drum lines]], which entangle and kill dolphins.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html |title = "Shark Culling". marineconservation.org.au. Archived from the original on 2018-10-02. Retrieved December 26, 2018. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002102324/https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html |archive-date=2 October 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Queensland's "shark control" program has killed more than 1,000 dolphins in recent years,<ref name="afd_cull">{{cite web| url = http://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals| title = Action for Dolphins. Queensland's Shark Control Program Has Snagged 84,000 Animals. Thom Mitchell. November 20, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2018.| date = May 12, 2023}}</ref> and at least 32 dolphins have been killed in Queensland since 2014.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://hsi.org.au/blog/separating-fact-from-fiction-in-qlds-shark-culling-program| title = ''Separating fact from fiction in QLD's shark culling program.'' Nicola Beynon. October 19, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018| date = October 19, 2018}}</ref> A [[shark culling]] program in [[KwaZulu-Natal]] has killed at least 2,310 dolphins.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets| title = "Shark Nets". sharkangels.org. Retrieved December 26, 2018.}}</ref>

[[Dolphin safe label]]s attempt to reassure consumers that fish and other marine products have been caught in a dolphin-friendly way. The earliest campaigns with "dolphin safe" labels were initiated in the 1980s as a result of cooperation between marine activists and the major tuna companies, and involved decreasing incidental dolphin kills by up to 50% by changing the type of nets used to catch tuna. The dolphins are netted only while fishermen are in pursuit of smaller tuna. Albacore are not netted this way, making albacore the only truly dolphin-safe tuna.<ref>{{cite web |title=Time of Truth For US Dolphin Safe Logos |url=http://www.atuna.com/NewsArchive/ViewArticle.asp?ID=12719 |website=atuna |access-date=August 29, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015221118/http://www.atuna.com/NewsArchive/ViewArticle.asp?ID=12719 |archive-date=October 15, 2015}}</ref>
Loud underwater noises, such as those resulting from [[navy|naval]] [[sonar]] use, live firing exercises, and certain [[offshore construction]] projects such as [[wind farm]]s, may be harmful to dolphins, increasing stress, damaging hearing, and causing [[decompression sickness]] by forcing them to surface too quickly to escape the noise.<ref>{{cite news
|title= Navy sonar may be killing whales, dolphins
|author=CBC news
|url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.358039
|access-date= October 27, 2008
|publisher=CBC News
|date=October 9, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Npower renewables Underwater noise & vibration, section 9.4
|url=http://www.natwindpower.co.uk/northhoyle/pdfs/fepa/chapter9.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722160651/http://www.natwindpower.co.uk/northhoyle/pdfs/fepa/chapter9.pdf
|archive-date=July 22, 2007
|access-date= October 27, 2008}}</ref>

Dolphins and other smaller cetaceans are also hunted in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. This is accomplished by driving a pod together with boats and usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the ocean with other boats or nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world, including the [[Solomon Islands]], the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Peru]], and Japan, the most well-known practitioner of this method. By numbers, dolphins are mostly hunted for their [[whale meat|meat]], though some end up in [[dolphinarium]]s. Despite the controversial nature of the hunt resulting in international criticism, and the possible health risk that the often polluted meat causes, thousands of dolphins are caught in drive hunts each year.