Police hunt man for ‘chopping up dead porpoise with meat cleaver’ on Margate beach
The police are searching for a man who was spotted chopping up a dead porpoise with a meat cleaver on Margate beach in Kent.
Witnesses tried to stop the man butchering the animal’s corpse after it had washed up on the beach on Easter Sunday.
Kent Police are now using CCTV to try and track down the attacker.
A police spokesman said: “Police were called to the seafront in Margate at 8.25pm on Sunday April 21st following a report that a man was cutting up the carcass of a dead porpoise with a meat cleaver.
“When asked by a passer-by to stop, it is said he was abusive. Officers attended and searched the area but the man had left. Inquiries are ongoing to see if the incident was captured on CCTV.”
A study by the World Wide Fund for Nature has said that small porpoises are often trapped in fishermen’s nets, which causes them to suffocate and die.
The charity has called for action after it discovered more than 1,000 porpoises are killed in UK waters each year.
Before the porpoise was removed from the Kent beach, measurements were taken and information gathered to be sent to the Natural History Museum.
Read More on Yahoo News
Critically Endangered Porpoise Found Dead Off Coast of Mexico, Conservationists Say
Smiling at danger, China’s finless porpoise fights to survive
The institution records the death of around 300 porpoises a year.
Experts try to ascertain the cause as well as monitor levels of disease, toxins and pollutants and parasites in the water.
Harbour porpoises, which look similar to dolphins, are fairly common in UK waters and usually stay close to coastal areas and river estuaries.
