A walker on Jacob's Ladder Beach in Sidmouth made a gruesome discovery - the headless and partly decomposed body of a dolphin.

Julie Adams was out on the beach at 1pm this afternoon (Thursday, January 13) when she spotted the dead marine mammal washed up on the shore.

She reported it to East Devon District Council and the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) which documents each incident and, where possible, investigates the cause of death.

Julie told the Herald that the CISP had confirmed that the creature was a common dolphin, but said it is too badly decomposed for them to take samples for a post-mortem investigation.

The CISP believe the dolphin died at sea and was then scavenged by other marine creatures.