BEACHGOERS in Barmouth were shocked on Friday when a large bottlenose dolphin washed ashore.

The coastguard was informed of a “moderately decomposed” animal on seashore and they immediately passed on the report to UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).

All cetacean (dolphins, whales and porpoises) strandings around the UK are recorded in a database by CSIP, regardless of condition.

A selection of fresh carcasses are recovered for a full examination to help the programme monitor the health of the species.

Rod Penrose, strandings co-ordinator for Wales, examined the dolphin to try and determine a cause of death.

“It was a 3.4 metre male bottlenose dolphin,” he said. “Teeth wear would indicate this to be an old animal, but unfortunately the degree of decomposition negated finding a cause of death. However, a suite of samples were taken which should go towards helping us monitor this species.

“Bottlenose dolphins are a species of interest to the programme so I attended to either recover the carcass for a full post-mortem examination at London Zoo or take samples before disposal depending on the state of decomposition.

“The carcass was found to be in a state of moderate decomposition and the additional time needed to transport the dolphin to London would very likely render some of the organs useless so a decision was made to sample the animal on-site.”