Wrong type of dolphin

The Safari looked somewhat despairingly at the sea today, far rougher than we had expected given the offshore wind direction, looking the other way the sunrise was quite spectacular but we couldn't find a decent location along the Prom to stop to get a pic.

We got the scope and went out but only lasted a few minutes - by eck that wind was cold!

Back in the office we had an email from an unknown person about a dolphin he'd found dead on the beach at the top end of town . Quite wrongly we assumed it was something to do with the local Bottle Nosed Dolphins that are being seen off Patch 2. His attached pictures, taken last night on his  phone showed it certainly wasn't one of the Bottle Nosed Dolphins. 

Blimey a Common Dolphin!

A sad end to a marvelous creature and wheels were set in motion to see if it was still on the beach or had been collected for an autopsy.

Searching through the records (only available to the end of 2001) we discovered it is only the ninth record of a stranded Common Dolphin along the inner Liverpool Bay coast since 1879, involving 10 animals! 

We're not sure about the Cheshire situation but can't think of any strandings along the Lancashire coast since then.

Live animals aren't that much more common. There being only three records from the various whale and dolphin websites between Cornwall and the Isle of Mull in the last six months! Off north Cornwall in the mouth of the Bristol Channel, off the Calf of  Man and off Ardnamuchan in Scotland.

So where did it come from, are there anymore as they are usually social animals and if there are more where are they now? Is this death something to do with the Bottle Nosed Dolphins, well the do do in Harbour Porpoises?

Must be still be some serious amounts of fish out there. By the close of play it still hadn't been found unless someone from the Strandings Scheme has already been down and taken it for analysis, colleagues will be checking the tidelines tomorrow just in case it reappears.

Not a lot else happening today but the sunset on the way back to Base Camp is a lot easier than sunrise to photograph from the Prom so we stopped for five minutes.

This chap must have seen it all before as he walked the entire length without looking anywhere else other than the toe of his boots.

In the end it sort of brightened up and faded out to nothing to write home about...five minutes enjoyed and well spent.

On a much more importantly sad note we read today that there are now 44 million birds less in our countryside than when we first picked up a pair of bins. Really feel we've cheated the young generations out of their inheritance. Something needs to bed done so that 44 million more aren't lost on their watch. The farmers incentives look like they may be lost or severely cut and that's going to be the start of the next 44 million :-( Maybe the farmers should be paid more for positive results, not getting anything until, for example, they raise the number of successfully breeding Yellowhammers on their farm by 50% or whatever - but who would be able to monitor that? We had the perfect workforce until very recently - the FWAG officers...boy do we need them back now! We've stepped up - have you?

The Peregrine was on the tower during Frank's walk.
Where to next? What'll be in the inbox tomorrow morning?
In the meantime let us know what's catching the last of the rays in your outback.