'Disturbing' Porpoise Beheading Triggers Investigation

The body of a decapitated porpoise found on a beach has triggered a police investigation.

The porpoise had washed up on Aberffraw beach in Anglesey, Wales, and was discovered missing its head by a couple walking their dog on Sunday morning.

A "bloody saw" was also found by the couple in a trash can near the beach.

"My partner saw a suspicious bloody saw in one of the bins opposite the beach just before 09:00 on Sunday morning, so we called the police straight away," Lowri Mair Jones, a local who found the headless corpse, told the BBC. "We carried on through the dunes towards the beach and that's where we saw the porpoise with its head sawn off. It was quite obvious to me that someone had done this on purpose."

After receiving a report about the decapitated porpoise, Amy Bennett, a police officer with the local Rural Crime Team, which is investigating the incident, released a statement on Tuesday.

"This is a disturbing incident and an offence under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017," Bennett said. "Anyone with information, or anyone who witnessed the incident, is asked to make contact with us."

Meanwhile, Jones also told the BBC that police had told her that porpoise skulls make "big money on the internet."

Harbor porpoises, also known as common porpoises, are some of the smallest cetaceans, usually measuring between 4.6 to 6.2 feet and weighing between 99 and 143 pounds. They are commonly seen off the Welsh coast, often in small groups of up to 10 individuals.

Harbor porpoises face various threats, including accidental entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation, pollution, and noise pollution from human activities such as shipping and construction. While they are not currently considered endangered, certain populations, particularly those in more heavily impacted areas, may be at risk.

The porpoise may have ended up on the beach after dying in the ocean, or by stranding itself on the land while still alive. Whether or not the porpoise was alive when its head was cut off is unknown.

"It is possible that the porpoise died shortly before becoming stranded on the beach, but it is also possible that it was still alive when its head was cut off, which is obviously terrifying to consider," Frankie Hobro, another local and owner and director of the nearby marine resource center Sw Môr Môn, told the BBC.

"There are no further details currently," a spokesperson for North Wales Police told Newsweek. "As far as I am aware, to date, there have been no arrests, and there is no information about how the animal's head came to be removed or if it was dead first."

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Update 2/21/24, 2:24 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the North Wales Police.