Talacre: 'Astonishing' discovery of porpoise killed in suspected shark attack

Mally Rice made the shock discovery on Talacre beach on Friday.

Mally has been studying sharks as part of a "life-long hobby" and said he has never seen anything like this done to something as large as porpoise in British waters.

Porpoise, which are similar in appearance to dolphins, are very common off the North Wales coast.

Asked if the injuries could have been inflicted by a boat, Mally said the animal's wounds were definitely caused by a bite.

"If you look at the crescent shape on the top - no propeller could cut in that shape," he said.

Asked about what he thinks is capable of inflicting such injuries, Mally said: "In our waters it has to have been either a Porbeagle shark, or a Blue shark - can’t see anything else in our waters doing that.

"Even then, it's extremely rare that an animal the size of a fully-grown porpoise will be attacked in this manner by a shark swimming in British waters.

"I've never seen anything like this happen in British waters - I was truly astonished to see what had happened to it."

Mally said it's also a possibility, albeit an unlikely one, that an Orca, or 'Killer Whale', was responsible - with a pod having been seen off the coast of North Wales in the past. 

"It's possible" he said.

"But they tend to tear huge chunks off with their cone teeth - this looks like a saw-like crescent shape, similar to that which are typically made by a shark bite."

A porbeagle shark (top) or a blue shark have been labelled as potential culprits.