Striped dolphins stranded on Ameland island

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands, 20 January 2016:

Striped dolphins washed up on Ameland

On Ameland yesterday two striped dolphins washed ashore. Hikers saw the animals lying around 23:00. They were already dead. They are females, a mother and a daughter.

Striped dolphins are rarely observed in the North Sea. Usually they remain in warmer waters. To our knowledge nine times previously striped dolphins beached on the Dutch coast, says biologist Johan Krol of the Ameland Nature Centre.

The animals were today moved to Utrecht University. There, they are examined to find out why they died.

Omrop Fryslân reports that the mother was about two meter long, her daughter one meter. After Utrecht University, they will go to Naturalis museum in Leiden, where they will be cleaned. Then, they will return to Ameland, where the Ameland Nature Centre will exhibit their skeletons.

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