The body of a bottlenose dolphin was found by a member of the public on a Cumbrian beach yesterday.

The carcass had been chopped into three pieces and was held in two sacks. This find raises many questions and also fears for the safety of Marra, the dolphin which has frequented the area for some time.

Marra, whose welfare and movements have been monitored by volunteers from our colleagues at BDMLR, has not been sighted recently, which adds to the concern that this dolphin could be her, but we must stress at this time the identification of these remains as Marra is in no way proven.


The body is being sent to London where a post mortem will be conducted by Paul Jepson, Project Co-ordinator of the UK Cetacean Strandings Project (UKCSP) who has been supplied with photographs of Marra to compare with any relevant markings found on the body of the dead dolphin and the results will be made available as soon as possible.

Read BDMLR press release here

photo credits: BDMLR