Felixstowe: Two more dead porpoises washed up at resort
This porpoise found washed up at Felixstowe last month. - Credit: Archant
MYSTERY today surrounds the deaths of three porpoises washed up at Felixstowe in less than a month.
Coastguards were called to two fresh incidents after walkers discovered the creatures on beaches.
The first was on the main beach – where an incomplete and decomposed carcass was removed by Suffolk Coastal council staff – and the second at Felixstowe Ferry, a carcass in good condition.
Because porpoises are classed as “fishes royal” – along with whales, dolphins and sturgeon – the Receiver of Wreck has to be informed whenever one is washed up on a beach.
The Natural History Museum and Institute of Zoology were also both informed of the incdient yesterday in case officers wanted to do a post-mortem.
A Thames Coastguard spokesman said neither organisation had required the carcass for examination.
Last month a 4ft-long porpoise was found by walkers on the shore at The Dip. There were no marks on the body of the mammal – believed to be a young adult – to indicate how it had died.
