Tragic end for Thames Dolphin as it dies after it gets beached on river bank
Tests will now be carried out to discover why the dolphin was in the Thames in the first place
A DOLPHIN has been found dead on the bank of the Thames - only nine days after it was first spotted swimming in the river.
Nicknamed 'the Thames dolphin', the animal reportedly got into difficulty on Monday near Wandsworth bridge and was seen struggling on land.
By Tuesday morning, the dolphin was dead.
A heart-breaking picture of the dolphin shows its blood-spattered fins as it lies on a mortuary table.
The Met's marine team have confirmed the creature's death.
They wrote on Twitter: "Sad to tell you that a dead Common #Dolphin was washed up on the foreshore at Wandsworth yesterday."
"There may be others so keep an eye out & report any sightings."
It is thought to have swam more than 50 miles inland from the sea to arrive in the Thames last month and seemed lost, having also been spotted in Hammersmith, Chiswick and Greenwich.
The RSPCA and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Team had been monitoring the animal closely.
A spokesman for the BDMLR said on Wednesday that they had received a call about the animal's welfare, but that a team set out to find the dolphin could not locate it.
A video of the dolphin in the water was first shared by Amy Clayfield on social media.
She said: "It was at about 2.45pm and I was stood on Putney Bridge with my girlfriend.
"I had just taken a photo of her and just as I took it I spotted a fin.
"I thought I was seeing things at first and she thought I was crazy.
"When we left the pub, we then walked along the river and it appeared again, by this time there were people in small boats following it and taking photos."
Yoga teacher Rosalia McKendrick snapped it playfully splashing about near Putney Bridge from her flat on Sunday afternoon.
She said: "It was really special and really unusual to watch. I was very surprised that it was this high up the Thames."
A postmortem will identify the cause of the dolphin's death.
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