The female striped dolphin was discovered by Bill Hibbs, who was walking along the beach during the bank holiday weekend when he saw the animal lying motionless on the sand.
The Swansea Coastguard was alerted and a team moved the dolphin above the high water mark, so it would not be dragged away by the sea.
The animal was then picked up by marine biologist Rob Deaville from the Institute of Zoology who carried out a post mortem in London.
Mr Deaville is the project manager for the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, which is funded by Defra.
He said: "The dolphin was a juvenile female which measured 1.6 metres long. She was found to be in a moderate to poor state with parasites in her stomach and externally on her fin and body, which are similar to barnacles.
"A Striped Dolphin is a relatively rare sighting with them usually being found in warmer waters such as the Mediterranean.
"Seven have been found in the UK over the last 12 months with most being in the South West."
Mr Deaville said it was difficult to determine whether the parasites were the cause of the dolphin's starvation or whether the parasites increased after little food was being eaten.
The carcass of the dolphin has since been incinerated while some of its bones have been kept for further analysis.
UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme has dealt with 20,000 strandings in its 20-year existence.
The programme is designed to discover the causes of death and disease and acts as a monitor of marine life.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Striped-dolphin-washed-North-Devon-beach/story-13289020-detail/story.html
No comments:
Post a Comment