The carcass of a dolphin found washed up on a Gower beach has been sent to London Zoo for a post-mortem investigation.
The female juvenile short-beaked common dolphin was found on Oxwich Bay Beach on October 10, and the stranding was reported to the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).
CSIP's operation in Wales is funded by the Welsh Government and all cetaceans - dolphins, whales, porpoises, marine turtles and large-bodied sharks - that strand on the coast are recorded by the programme.
A small proportion of carcasses found in "suitable condition" are recovered for full examination to establish the health of populations around the Welsh coast.
Welsh strandings co-ordinator for CSIP, Mat Westfield, recovered the dolphin from Oxwich Bay Beach.
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He said: "Although we are annually limited to examining only 20 cetaceans from Wales we try to recover carcasses from a wide geographical area throughout the Principality and throughout the year so as not to skew any data.
"We also try to recover them in as fresh as possible condition so that we can record as much information from each one. This short-beaked common dolphin was recovered as it was in a very fresh condition".
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Jay Curtis, from Swansea, saw the dolphin being recovered by CSIP. He said: "The guy said it was a young female and was likely caught up in nets by fishermen out at sea but due to strict rules some throw them over the side when caught.
"It was then being taken by vehicle to London Zoo where they carry out an investigation into the cause of death.
"I've spotted several dolphins around Mumbles these last few weeks on lots of occasions. I've not seen it this often before so there seems to be a lot more coming closer to the shore."
The carcass has been transported to the Zoological Society of London, a partner organisation within the CSIP, where it will undergo a full post-mortem examination.
