Dolphin Stranding

We took a short walk along the beach to the southwest of Golspie this morning, finding it as deserted of humans and interesting live or dead wildlife as it usually is at present, until....

....we came to this, a dolphin stranded just below the high tide line.

Several people had come across it before us, and someone had piled a few rocks around its head, as if to give it some sort of burial. Oddly, one small stone was balanced just back from its head.

From the state of its skin it looks as if this individual has seen its fair share of life's bumps and scrapes. Whether the deeper cut just below the stone....

....was the cause of death seems possible as it does have the characteristic arc-shape of a propellor injury.

It's sad that this dead individual is the first dolphin we've seen in Golspie as they are reported to be visible off the coast.

I identified it as a common dolphin but after reporting it to the Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Scheme  - link here - I was corrected: it's a bottlenose dolphin.