
Almost 5,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales have been found washed up dead on shores around the United Kingdom in a single seven-year period. Pictured, a mass stranding of long-finned pilot whales on a b
The number of whales, dolphins and harbour porpoises washed up on UK shores has risen to just under 5,000 in the last decade, a study has found.
A total of 4,896 were were reported to have washed up on beaches between January 1 2011 and December 31 2017, the Government said.
It marks an increase in strandings of 15 per cent on the previous seven-year period, according to the research.
Of the 4,896 incidents, 4,311 were dead strandings, 186 were dead at sea including 21 entangled at sea, and 399 live strandings, only 132 of which were returned alive to the sea.












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Update: On 7th Sept. Sky News reports: