Through the night
The dolphin was initially reported to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network as a porpoise at St Mawes
A white-beaked dolphin was found stranded on a beach in St Mawes on Saturday 16th January.
The 2.4 metre long dolphin was initially reported to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network as a porpoise.
However, when Jan Loveridge, the Network's Co-ordinator, received photos of the animal she discovered it was a dolphin that is very rarely seen in Cornwall.
"This is one of only nine stranded, white-beaked dolphins ever reported in Cornwall" says Jan Loveridge,
"We're very pleased that so many people in St Mawes took the trouble to report it to us and it was great that the children took such an interest. There's nothing quite the same as seeing a dolphin close-up, although if a dead marine animal is found, it is advisable not to touch it as it could be carrying diseases that humans can catch."
In the UK, white-beaked dolphins are mostly found off northern Scotland and along parts of the Atlantic coast of Ireland. Sadly, they have been hunted and killed for food and oil in the seas off Canada, in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and in Norway.
The public are also urged to report stranded marine wildlife to the Network on their Hotline number, 0845 201 2626, which is monitored every day of the year.
