Dead dolphin

Another dead cetacean was spotted this morning on the beach near Carnain, Loch Indaal, by Grant Carmichael who lives close by. He phoned SNH who phoned me. I was out goose counting round Loch Gorm at the time and was able to find it on my way back to Bowmore and do the necessary. This time it was a Common Dolphin, dead well before it washed up here. The winds have been strong and more or less southerly the last few days so it could have travelled some distance before coming into the loch. It isn't a very pretty sight, but here are the photos nonetheless as they show the salient features of this species with its well-toothed jaws in a longish beak, curved white side patches and a fairly small dorsal fin. It was just under 6 foot long (181 cm). I collected a sample of skin and blubber and am sending it off to the Scottish Marine Stranding Scheme where they will be able to test it for pollutants and also obtain the DNA to add to their databank and compare it with others of the same species.
Malcolm

White-beaked Dolphin?

Some more pictures of the pair of dolphins seen off Caol Ila (see earlier positing) have emerged (thanks Kate!) and while they still do not provide the definitive answer, they perhaps suggest White-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) - a cold water cetacean that while unusual (to say the least) in the Sound of Islay, is perhaps a little more plausible than Risso's (Grampus griseus) although Risso's remains a possibility.  These new shots are higher resolution than Nick's originals and I think we can now discount Bottle-nosed which is the dolphin most usually found around Islay.

These are shots of White-beaked strandings.

Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), which is of course not even slightly common off Islay, is another possibility, but the initial photo from Nick seems to show an animal without a beak, or at least with only a very short beak....