A DEAD dolphin washed up at Lulworth on Thursday.

Officials from the Lulworth Coastguard Rescue Team were called to reports of a stranded dolphin on the beach at Durdle Door.

When they arrived, it was "clear" the dolphin had already died.

Measurements and photographs were taken and details of the animal were sent to Solent Coastguard - National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC).

A spokesman for the team said: "Many people are unaware, but recording stranded cetaceans falls under the coastguards remit.

"The NMOC share information with the Natural History Museum and the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP)."

As the team was leaving the station to investigate the stranded dolphin, the pagers sounded again for the second tasking of the afternoon. A husband and wife had become separated in-between Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.

The wife had reported her husband as missing as he’d been absent for some time. Due to the fading light and serious nature of the incident, Kimmeridge Coastguard were also tasked to the incident.

Just as dusk was falling and the teams were assembling on station, news came through that the husband had now turned up safe and well.