Dolphin plays with swimmers in Hayle Harbour in August

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The bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed “Nick”, went viral on social media in August after playing and jumping around a group of stunned swimmers off the coast of Hayle, Cornwall for up to an hour. However, on Sunday, the creature was found dead with deep cuts in his tail, believed to have been caused by a boat propeller.    

Experts found Nick had been in “good” nutritional condition, suggesting it was the boat alone which killed him.

It’s believed the collision happened off the Cornish coast. Nick’s body washed up at Roaches Point in Cork Harbour, Ireland.

Stephanie Levesque and Mags Daly, from Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, said: “The images showed multiple, deep lacerations on the carcass located on the dorsal surface of the tail stock and tail flukes – injuries consistent with propeller damage.

“Had the injuries occurred post mortem, we would expect to see them on the underside of the carcass, rather than the top of the tail stock.”

Photos of the dead dolphin showed Nick’s distinctive white scar on his nose, which, Cornwall Live reports many people had commonly mistaken for a plastic bag being stuck.

Nick became a brief internet sensation a stunning close encounter with swimmers in Hayle on August 22.

Helen Williams, a resident in the seaside town, said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The kids quite often go jumping into the harbour. I’ve never seen a dolphin in the harbour before. It was just incredible.

“It almost looks Photoshopped.”

But Hayle residents paid their respects to Nick after news of his plight emerged online yesterday.

Dan Jarvis, a member of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, posted on social media today: “Very sad to break the news that the recent visiting social solitary bottlenose dolphin known as ‘Nick’ was sadly killed in Ireland a few days ago, exactly as we feared would happen despite trying to raise awareness of his situation.

“Nick’s’ death so soon after he became prolific a few short weeks ago just goes to show that there is still a lot of work to be done in raising awareness to the public of how to act around wildlife.”

Speaking in August, Mr Jarvis, of Hayle, said: “If you’re on a boat, don’t do high speed turns around it, that’s when they get hit.

“Don’t expect a dolphin to be clever. People will often say, ‘if it wants to go away it will’, and will blame it if it gets hit.

One Facebook user posted: “Sadly despite trying to educate and awareness these tragic incidents happen, heartbreaking as they are.

“Nick was certainly a ‘character’ who put many a smile on people’s faces with his interactions and antics. He won’t be forgotten.”

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