A TEAM of marine mammal medics was called to a dolphin stranded on a beach in the Seven Estuary.

The six-foot-long common dolphin had washed up on the high tide and was stranded at Sandy Bay near Weston-super-Mare, north Somerset today (January 3).

Coastguards from Weston attended the scene along with the Burnham Area Rescue Boat's (BARB) fully trained marine mammal medics and British Divers Marine Life Rescue, who specialise in marine strandings.

The team walked out across the mudflats to reach the stranded dolphin where they assessed its condition.

“It had initially been showing signs of life, with air being blown through its blowhole, but sadly it was declared deceased during the incident,” said BARB spokesman Mark Newman.

"A sad ending for such a wonderful creature."

The body, estimated to be around 200kg, was taken off the beach for formal logging and further investigation to assess the cause of the death.