Shoreham dog walker finds dolphin washed up in estuary

Steve Hall was walking his springer spaniel Bramble along the Shoreham estuary on Tuesday afternoon.

Bramble sniffed out the carcass, which looks like a porpoise or a dolphin, and led Steve towards it.

Steve’s dog Bramble found the carcass (Image: Steve Hall)

“He wasn’t that interested in it, I think I was more so,” Steve told The Argus.

“It looked like it had been half-eaten.

“I’ve seen creatures washed up there before but nothing that big so it was quite impressive.”

Steve said he looked it up afterwards to confirm if it was a dolphin or porpoise and was surprised by how many reports there had been of similar animals in recent months.

“I wonder if there is a deeper reason for these washing up as it seems there has been a surge,” he added.

A spokeswoman from the University of Sussex said: “Experts at the University of Sussex believe this to be a heavily degraded bottlenose dolphin. It is difficult to tell as many of the identifying features including the teeth have been lost.

“The Sussex Dolphin Project helped to confirm the potential ID.”

Stormy weather can cause creatures like this to get washed up it is believed.