Incredible pictures show a porpoise being battered to death in Cornish harbour
THESE amazing pictures depict the moment a porpoise is killed as it is thrown into the air by dolphins in Cornwall.
Shocked gig rowers stumbled across the scene of the fatal attack while out on the water for a social exercise on Sunday.
The group of rowers first thought they were watching a dolphin giving birth.
But after posting the amazing pictures to Facebook, marine experts confirmed the creature was under attack.
The bottlenose dolphins sunk their teeth into the porpoise in Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall.
Drained of life, its carcass was eventually retrieved from the water for a post mortem by experts.
The shocking images – shot by Sue Nankervis, who is chairman of Pendeen Pilot Gig – depict the moment the bottlenose dolphins bully the porpoise about before throwing it up in the air.
Speaking on the incident, Sue, 51, of St Ives, Cornwall, said: "There were six of us out on the water for a Sunday morning social row just off the harbour and at first we thought we had come across a dolphin giving birth.
"There was a lot of blood in the water and you could see a small animal among them.
"We just assumed it was a dolphin giving birth but we soon realised they kept taking it under and flipping it up so that was not the case.
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"We found out later when we put it on social media that it was an attack on a harbour porpoise.
"There has been a lot of interest as it is a very rare thing to get on camera.
"The Newlyn lifeboat was able to rescue the porpoise and taken it back in for a post mortem.
"It was an incredible thing to see.
“We went through a range of emotions.
“First we thought it was something spectacular of a dolphin being born and when we realised what was happening it was horrible.
"But equally, reflecting back on it now, it was an amazing thing to witness.
"We were just outside of Newlyn Harbour when apparently we witnessed an attack by bottlenose dolphins on a harbour porpoise.
"They were pulling it under and throwing it up in the air.
"It was an amazing sight."
A spokesman for the Cornish Wildlife Trust said: "The animal suffered multiple severe injuries as a result of the attack.
"We do have a number of dead porpoise, and more unusually common dolphin, reported to us with injuries resulting from bottlenose dolphin aggression."
According to the trust, the reason for the violent attack remains unclear.
They continued: "It is certainly not predation.
“Many theories have been put forward, including: Misdirected infanticide (bottlenoses will kill calves), misdirected sexual aggression or play behaviour, and an aggressive response to feed competition are just some."
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