“It was extremely hard for the crew to watch the trapped dolphins without being able to rescue them,” Essemlali told The Dodo.

In a small portion of France’s coastal waters (between Vendée and Charente Maritime), it’s estimated that up to 10,000 dolphins are killed each winter after getting caught in fishing nets, according to Sea Shepherd Global — in comparison, Taiji, Japan’s infamous dolphin hunt, usually kills less than 1,000 dolphins.

“The most outraging part is that the French government knows about this,” Essemlali said, explaining that the French government seems reluctant to address the issue.

But the problem isn’t isolated to France. More than 650,000 marine mammals, including dolphins, whales, seals and turtles, are killed or severely…