A porpoise has died following a stranding at a beach area in Donegal this weekend.
The small whale was reported alive when it was first spotted in the Rosses area by a member of the public. However, it subsequently died by the time a member of the Donegal Irish Whale and Dolphin Group came to the scene.
The porpoise has been identified as a female.
It is not known how it died, but analysis by the IWDG volunteer shows that its ribs were starting to show, suggesting that it had not eaten in a while.
Posting on Facebook, a group member said: “On inspection of her mouth all the teeth on the lower right jaw was missing. And all other teeth was badly worn. So could this suggest an old animal that could no longer feed?”
However, without a post mortem scheme in place for Irish Whale and Dolphin Group volunteers at present, they said there will be no necropsy system to determine the cause of death.
