A dead dolphin was found washed up onto the foreshore of the Thames in Wandsworth.

The creature is believed to have been spotted nine days ago swimming up the river and was christened the 'Thames Dolphin.'

Police confirmed a dolphin had been found dead after becoming beached on the foreshore of the southern bank of the river.

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The Marine Policing unit @MPSonthewater tweeted: "Sad to tell you that a dead Common #Dolphin was washed up on the foreshore at Wandsworth yesterday.

"Our friends at @ZSLMarine will carry out tests to determine why it was in fresh water.

"There may be others so keep an eye out and report any sightings."

Preliminary results from a post-mortem investigation done yesterday showed that the 224cm-long dolphin was undernourished, probably relatively aged and missing some of its teeth.

Robert Deaville, from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme for the Zoological Society of London, said: "We have been doing this work for 27 years and we have only ever had 12 common dolphin strandings on the east coast.

"However it came to be in the Thames it's an unusual occasion."

Mr Deaville’s team are working on finding out the final cause of death.