{"id":556949,"date":"2026-04-29T13:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/556949\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:05:11","slug":"dolphin-found-washed-up-on-aberavon-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/556949\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphin found washed up on Aberavon beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Port Talbot Coastguard received reports of the mammal on Aberavon Beach on Tuesday afternoon. It will now be subject to a post-mortem\"Marine<\/p>\n

Marine medics attended the beach on Tuesday afternoon(Image: Port Talbot Coastguard)<\/p>\n

A dead dolphin has been found washed up on a Welsh beach. Port Talbot<\/a> Coastguard received reports of the animal on Aberavon Beach just after 4pm on Tuesday, April 28, and were later able to confirm it was a deceased common dolphin.<\/p>\n

Marine medics attended the scene and carried out assessments before the dolphin was removed from the beach and collected by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP). The dolphin will now travel to London Zoo where a post-mortem examination will take place.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Port Talbot Coastguard said: “Our team was tasked with providing public safety support following reports of a live baby porpoise coming ashore on Aberafan Beach.<\/p>\n

“Upon arrival at the scene, 2 of our Coastguard Rescue Officers\u2014who are also members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue<\/a> (BDMLR)\u2014it was quickly established that the animal was, in fact, a deceased common dolphin rather than a live porpoise as initially reported.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

The dolphin will now be transferred to London Zoo for a post-mortem examination(Image: Port Talbot Coastguard)<\/p>\n

“Our trained Marine Medics conducted the appropriate on-site assessments, ensuring all relevant procedures were followed. Documentation was then completed and submitted to both BDMLR and Coastguard Operations for further coordination and record-keeping.<\/p>\n

“Following this, the dolphin was respectfully removed from the beach and subsequently collected by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).<\/p>\n

“The animal will be transported to London Zoo, where a post-mortem examination will be carried out to help determine the cause of death and contribute to ongoing marine research.”<\/p>\n

In September, 2025, the coastguard retrieved a similar short-beaked common dolphin<\/a> which washed up at the same beach. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"people<\/p>\n

The dolphin was originally thought to be a live porpoise (Image: Port Talbot Coastguard)<\/p>\n

The BDMLR recommends that anyone who encounters a stranded marine mammal keeps a safe distance, avoids trying to return the animal to the water, and contacts the appropriate authorities immediately.<\/p>\n

Common dolphins can be spotted in Wales all year round, most likely during warmer months off south and west coasts and offshore. The mammals are described as being “highly social” and are usually found travelling at speed in groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Port Talbot Coastguard received reports of the mammal on Aberavon Beach on Tuesday afternoon. It will now be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[45629,63143,90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-556949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-aberavon","tag-port-talbot","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}