A suspected porpoise has washed up on Llanrhystud beach during an astonishing period of strandings on UK shorelines.  

Images were sent to the Cambrian News of what appears to be a porpoise - a marine mammal which is a close relation of Narwhals and Beluga Whales, but closely resemble dolphins.  

We have contacted Marine Environmental Monitoring – which undertakes post-mortem analysis of stranded animals – and the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre, which researches aquatic mammals and particularly dolphins and porpoises.  

A ‘well-known’ bottlenose dolphin known to Ceredigion scientists as ‘Vader’ died after a rare live stranding on Ynyslas beach at the weekend.   

And tragically on Monday (8 May), Abersoch Coastguard Rescue Team and regional scientists were called out to a beached sperm whale, measuring 32 feet, on Porth Neigwl in Gwynedd. It later died. 

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue, responsible for helping save stranded animals, revealed there had been seven beached whales washing up on the nation's shoreline since April 20.