Sailors find dead dolphin in garden

Two sailors were amazed when they woke to find a dead dolphin in the garden of their Dorset home - especially as they live on a steep hill half a mile from the sea.

Mike Elliott, 28, and housemate Gary Harvey, who are both Royal Navy marine engineers, thought they were dreaming when they woke to find the 3ft dolphin in Portland on Thursday.

Mr Harvey, 23, said: "I woke up, looked out of my window and saw what appeared to be a dolphin in the garden.

"I went downstairs to have a closer look and that confirmed it - there was a three foot dolphin in the back garden.

"I really don't know how it got there. I was pretty amazed. I thought I was dreaming to start with."

They called police who made house to house enquiries about the dolphin, who died of unknown causes.

"There was no evidence a criminal offence had been committed," a Dorset Police spokesman added.

Environmental health officers from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council were contacted and removed the mammal.

The dolphin appeared to have two puncture wounds in its stomach as if it had been speared.

Mr Harvey added: "There was no tidal wave and we live about half a mile from the sea quite a bit above sea level at the top of Portland so it must have been dumped there."