Dead Dolphin on Maro Beach

Yet another dead dolphin was found washed up on a Nerja beach around the end of last month.

Experts from the Environmental Department of the Junta de Andalucia, with the help of local Protección Civil volunteers, removed the carcass of the bottlenose dolphin from the shoreline on Maro beach.

The Environmental Department received reports of its presence and upon examining the carcass the experts said that the remains were not in a state of decomposition; i.e., it had not long been dead.

The first thing they did on arrival was to note down data; i.e., approximate age, size, sex, weight, etc. Then the dolphin was transported to the Centro de Gestión del Medio Marino Andaluz (CEGMA) in Algeciras (Cádiz) for an autopsy.

A previous case of a dolphin washed up on the coast of Axarquia was January, 2022 on Playa de La Torrecilla. A marine biologist explained that when this happens, the causes of death range from old age and infections to collisions with boats.

Quoting from Wikipedia: Common bottlenose dolphins have a grey colouring, a short beak, a single blowhole, and a hooked dorsal fin. The bottlenose is between two and four-metres long, and weighs between 150 and 650 kg. Males are generally larger and heavier than females. In most parts of the world, adult length is between 2.5 and 3.5 m; weight ranges between 200 and 500 kg. Dolphins have a short and well-defined snouts that looks like an old-fashioned gin bottle, which is the source for their common name.

(News/Noticias: Maro, Nerja, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)

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