8
Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 27
Hall Aggregates generously offered to bury the remains on a private area of Harwich Harbour land to 'rot down', none of the agencies involved were sure enough of their responsibilities to give the necessary authority. The carcase was deeply buried in a landfill site at Bramford and the skull was lost to the Ipswich Museum and Suffolk naturalists. Following the disappointing end to the Fin Whale episode we were well prepared when, on 6th February 1991, RSPCA Inspector D. Kell reported a suspected Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu) stranding. Men working on the Aldeburgh sea defences discovered the animal as it was being washed ashore by strong waves. Attempts to re-float it with the help of the RSPCA failed, and in the end it had to be humanely destroyed. Dr. Thijs Kuiken of the Zoological Society of London's Department of Veterinary Science, working in conjunction with the British Museum (Natural History), was called to perform a post mortem examination and identified the specimen as a Striped Dolphin (also known as the Euphrosyne Dolphin). The Striped Dolphin is a common species worldwide in tropical and warm temperate waters, becoming less common in colder waters. It is a rarity in British waters although it may have been frequently overlooked, mistaken for the similar Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis Linnaeus. Only four British Striped Dolphin strandings were recorded prior to 1966 (Fraser, 1974) and a further fifteen between 1967 and 1986 (Sheldrick, 1989). All previous strandings have been from the south and west coasts of the British Isles. This is a first for Suffolk and a first for the British North Sea Coast. The carcase has been acquired by Ipswich Museum and will be prepared as a skeleton in due course. References Fraser, F. C. (1974). Report on Cetacea stranded on the British coasts from 1948 to 1966. No. 14. London: British Museum (Natural History). Morley, C. (1931). Editor's footnote. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc., 1: 176. Morley, C. (1932). The mammals of Suffolk. Part 2: marine species. Trans Suffolk Nat. Soc., 2: 28. Patterson, A . H. (1919). Common Rorqual off the east coast. Trans. Norfolk Norwich Nat. Soc. 10: 505. Rope, G . T. (1911). Mammals. In: Page, W. (ed.), 1911. The Victoria history of the counties of England. A history of Suffolk. Vol. 1, pp 215-233. London: Constable & Co. Sheldrick, M. C. (1989). Stranded whale records for the entire British coastline, 1967-1986. Investigations on Cetacea, 22: 298. H. Mendel & D. J. Lampard, The Museum, High Street, Ipswich IP1 3QH
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 27 (1991)