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A dolphin has been found dead on the bank of the Thames in Southwest London.
The mammal, which has now been confirmed as an adult male short-beaked common dolphin by the Port of London Authority (PLA), was seen washed up on the foreshore at Mortlake in Richmond on Thursday.
It comes days after public sightings of a dolphin swimming in the river between Hammersmith Bridge and Putney Bridge.
A spokesperson for the PLA told the BBC: “Unfortunately, when dolphins are sighted this far up the Thames it can often indicate they are already in distress.”
In an effort to find out exactly what happened to the dolphin, and the possible causes of its live stranding, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue is now working alongside the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).
The dolphin appeared “skinny” and “not in the best condition” (Zoological Society of London)
Rob Deaville, CSIP project manager, observed that the animal had travelled the furthest west up the River Thames than is usually expected for a common dolphin.
The CSIP shared on Facebook: “This is an unusual stranding for the region — common dolphin strandings have been rarely reported within the southern North Sea over the last 35 years since the inception of the CSIP.”
Reports of dolphin deaths are increasing, with Mr Deaville expressing that it was a “reasonable assumption” to attribute this rise to the impacts of climate change.
A post-mortem exam is expected to take place on Friday, but the animal was noted to not be in the best condition, having experienced skin damage from being in fresh water for some time.