Marine expert believes mysterious washed-up animal at Donmouth Beach could be a dolphin

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue coordinator believes it could have died at sea and washed ashore.

By Cameron Roy

June 8 2023, 4:38 pm

Marine expert Stacey Esson believes the mysterious washed-up animal on Donmouth Beach could be a dolphin. Image: Stacey Esson and Serena Rae.

A mysterious washed-up animal on Donmouth Beach could be a dolphin, a marine expert believes.

The unknown creature has left Aberdeen locals confused about how it got there.

A number of residents believed the animal could be a seal or dolphin.

It has been raising concerns after a beach walker noticed dog footprints near the decomposing animal on Tuesday.

Now Stacey Esson, who is the Aberdeenshire coordinator for the charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), has given her insight.

BDMLR was formed in 1988 and works with divers to save seals, whales, dolphins and porpoises that get stranded.

Why did the animal at Donmouth Beach wash ashore?

Miss Esson, who has worked with the charity for 20 years, said: “It looks like a dolphin or maybe something bigger, it would depend on size.

“There could be many reasons that it has washed-up, like old age and died at sea and washed in. It could have been ill or entangled.”

But Miss Esson was unsure how long the dolphin had been dead and said it would need closer inspection.

The animal was found on the north side of Donmouth Beach, near a hut made of sticks. Image: Alastair Gammack

She said if it was fresher then the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme could have taken samples or carried out a postmortem to find out more.

The Scottish strandings scheme is operated by Glasgow University with the purpose of collating and investigating reports of stranded marine animals around the coastline of Scotland.

Could the Donmouth Beach animal be a risk to dogs?

When Serena Rae first spotted the animal at Donmouth Beach on Tuesday, she said she was concerned about the dog prints nearby.

Miss Esson said: “I’m not 100% sure, but if that decomposed dogs would more than likely get sick.

“But if people get in contact with the environment department at the council it may come and remove it.”

Aberdeen City Council said it received a report of the deceased animal at Donmouth Beach on Wednesday and it would send out its operational and protective services team if required.

On Thursday, it confirmed that its team had not been out to the scene.

On Monday, Miss Esson was involved in the rescue of two dolphins who were returned to sea after becoming stranded at Fraserburgh Beach.