A rare “tragic” find on Jersey shores

Friday 26 January 2018

A young common dolphin – a rare visitor to the island – has washed up dead at La Pulente, believed to be a casualty of the recent stormy weather.

The mammal was found on the beach on Tuesday. It's believed the recent storms, which have battered the island at the end of 2017 and start of 2018, could be to blame.

The common dolphin is known as a ‘transient’ species in Jersey – they only tend to pass through and tend to inhabit French waters. Bottlenose dolphins are more common, however, with about 100 around Jersey.

Over 100 people took to Facebook's popular Jersey Wildlife page to express their sadness at the find.

Pictured: La Pulente, the area in which the dolphin was found. (Google Maps)

The juvenile is the second dolphin to be washed up on the island's coastline this winter – the first being a bottlenose dolphin just before Christmas. Two seal pups were also spotted on the beaches in December, after losing their battle against the storms.  

Where possible, the Jersey branch of the British Marine Life Rescue step in to rescue lost or injured species that wash up in the Channel Islands.

Last winter, the team helped two seal pups back to health – one of which was the smallest to wash up in Jersey in a decade.

Pictured: One of BDMLR’s success stories, a tiny 11.5kg seal pup that washed up at L'Etacq. Video here.

Speaking about this most recent find, BDMLR Area Co-ordinator Donna De Gruchy told Express: "It's more than likely the dolphin died naturally, especially following the storms and usually the current would take them away, but with all the bad weather we have continually had it is not unusual for them to occasionally wash up on our shores. 

“Although it is not unusual for natural death at sea, it is always sad when they wash up on our shores and some people find this very distressing."

Those who find any live marine wildlife stranded on the beaches or along the island's coastline are being reminded to call the BDMLR.

In in the sad situation where the wildlife hasn't survived, as in this case, islanders should contact Jersey Fisheries who take measurements, samples and ID the dolphin. 

Lead photo: David Buxton/Facebook