A Gruesome find on the Beach at Hill Head

Last Sunday, 9th November, I had a call from local birder Dan Houghton, informing me of a cetacean corpse that had washed up on the beach at Hill Head. As luck would have it, Dylan Walker, a marine biologist and co-founder of Whalefest and the World Cetacean Alliance, was staying with me, so we headed down to Hill Head to check it out.

Cetacean Corpse, Hill Head - November 2014

The corpse was very badly decomposed and it was evident that it must have been floating around out at sea for a while. The beak was exposed and all the teeth were missing, and the rib cage and backbone were exposed. There was no evidence of fishing nets wrapped around it, and there was no obvious evidence of a propeller strike, but it was in very poor condition and difficult to make out anything. Given its condition it was clearly going to be tricky to get a positive ID as to species, but there were a few pointers to guide us.

Beak of Cetacean Corpse, Hill Head

The corpse measured around 2 meters in length, which would tend to rule out Harbour Porpoise, since this species averages 1.5m in length, with the largest being 1.9m. It would probably also rule Bottle-nosed Dolphin as this species would be much larger, although of course it could be a juvenile. The beak was damaged but it was possible to count 30 tooth holes, again too many for Harbour Porpoise, which usually has between 22 - 28, but interestingly not enough for Short-beaked Common Dolphin which would have between 41 - 57 pairs of teeth, and what we considered to be our most likely candidate.

Exposed Ribs and Vertebrae 

There were no other clues for us to work with and we may never find out what the species was, but it was apparently being collected and therefore DNA analysis will undoubtedly hold the key to its identity. We were able to establish that it was a male, and this is evident in the image below.

Male Genitalia on Cetacean Corpse at Hill Head 

Harbour Porpoises and Common Dolphins have been recorded in The Solent and I posted previously about a Harbour Porpoise corpse which washed up at Hill Head in August 2012. There is of course no telling where this corpse has come from since it has obviously been floating around at sea for a while, so who knows what it will turn out to be.

Cetacean Corpse at Titchfield Haven

I had a call this afternoon, from Ed Bennett, a ranger at Titchfield Haven, that a cetacean corpse had been washed up on the beach at Hill Head. Ed suspected that the corpse was that of a Harbour Porpoise, and sent me a picture which seemed to suggest that it was, but being the sad person that I am, I decided to go and take a look.

Harbour Porpoise Corpse

The corpse was quite badly decomposed, and did wiff pretty badly, but still it was possible to make out what it was, although on I first impressions I did think that it might be a Common Dolphin.

Harbour Porpoise Corpse

The major difference between dolphins and porpoises is that dolphins have a pronounced beak, whereas porpoises have no beak and a blunt snout. As is possible to see below this corpse lacks a beak and has a blunt and rounded snout. Dolphins also have a more pointed and angled dorsal fin, whereas in porpoises it is blunt and less angled. The dorsal fin on this corpse did look quite pointed, although looking at the trailing edge, it is not as concave as would be expected in Common Dolphin.

Jaw Showing Rounded Snout

The dried and cracked tail stock is evidence that this corpse has been floating around at sea for a while, and I suspect it has drifted into The Solent from The English Channel. The colouration of the tail stock, with dark grey upperparts and pale underparts, was again consistent with Harbour Porpoise. Common Dolphin has an hourglass pattern on its flanks and therefore it should still be possible to see the two-tone pattern.

Dried and Cracked Tail Stock

Many Harbour Porpoises are killed each year, either as by-catch from the fishing industry or by collision with shipping vessels, so I was keen to see this corpse and see if there was any evidence of either. I could see no evidence of net entanglement or propeller cuts, so it maybe that this individual died from natural causes, but unfortunately we will never know.