A dolphin was found washed up on a Gower beach by a man walking his dog.
The common dolphin was discovered on Tor Bay on Thursday afternoon and is thought to be around five foot in length.
David Wachowski made the discovery while walking his dog on the beach.
He said: "I was walking my dog at around 4pm on Thursday when I saw it.
"It's the first time I've seen one washed up in Gower and I work down here so visit the beaches regularly.
"It had quite a lot of scars on it and looked like it had been washed up against the rocks or been attacked by something near its right eye."
Adult common dolphins usually range between six and eight foot long and can weigh between 80 to 235kg.
They usually travel in large groups between 10 and 50 and can be seen breaking the water's surface at high speed.
Back in the summer hundreds of dolphins were spotted across Swansea Bay, while there were also sightings in Pembrokeshire.
Danny Groves, of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation organisation, said: "It is always difficult to say definitively why a dolphin like this one would strand on the shore.
"Significant numbers of common dolphins are accidentally caught in fishing nets but there are also other factors that could cause a dolphin or whale to strand.
"Disease could be the reason for this dolphin to wash up dead but man-made issues can play a part, and there are WDC campaigns to limit their impacts on these amazing creatures."
Wonderful video of dolphins in the sea around Wales:
He said loud underwater noise from oil or gas exploration, or military exercises, could also cause whales and dolphins to become disorientated and drive them away from their normal feeding grounds, and risk from collisions with boats could be another problem.
"But, unless a post-mortem is carried out very shortly after death we may never know.
"Common dolphins eat a varied diet of fish and squid and are very quick. They typically travel in large groups numbering between 10 and 50 and are incredibly acrobatic, often seen breaching and breaking the water's surface at high speed."
