Danny the Dorset Dolphin killed by ship strike

Danny the Dolphin regularly appeared alongside pleasure craft off the Dorset coast

A dolphin which became a local celebrity off the Dorset coast died from being hit by a ship, a post-mortem examination has found.

The body of the solitary bottlenose dolphin, who became known as "Danny", was found in the water on Tuesday.

Experts confirmed his identity and said he was likely to have suffered an "impact from a large propeller".

The dolphin had become a familiar site along the coast and a Facebook group about him had more than 4,500 members.

The UK Cetacean Stranding Information Project carried out a post-mortem examination at London Zoo.

A statement said the dolphin was identified by "characteristic rakemarks... in addition to a number of other identifying scars" which were matched with images of Danny.

It concluded the death was due to "acute physical trauma, as a result of ship strike".

"Sadly, when animals become habituated to human and vessel presence, accidental encounters such as these can unfortunately result in serious injury or fatalities," it added.

Danny the Dolphin was rescued after getting entangled on a yacht mooring off Swanage in October 2019

Liz Sandeman, founder of conservation charity Marine Connection, said: "Many solitary dolphins have been killed by vessel strikes. It's very sad but it wasn't surprising news at all.

"When these dolphins come inshore, unquestionably their behaviour does change within months.

"They become habituated and lose their wariness and fear around humans and vessels."

Danny, thought to have been aged about 12, had recently appeared among cruise ships moored off the Dorset coast when voyages were stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the tributes posted on social media, Weymouth's RNLI crew said he had "helped to educate people as to marine life and its importance in our waters and the need to preserve it".

He is believed to be the same dolphin rescued by a local fisherman after getting entangled on a yacht mooring off Swanage in October 2019.