"We are getting a lot of animals close into shore feeding on the feed stock. That means there are more interactions with the fishing fleet.

"There are other causes of death that we are identifying. A lot of animals are undernourished and are starving, and there has been an increase incidence of disease and lower immunity."

Paul Trebilcock of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation said although fishing gear did occasionally interact with dolphins, fishermen had done everything they could to avoid it.

He said it was "unlikely" that fishermen were the reason for the increase.

Rob Deaville, from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, told the Western Morning News that the organisation was aware of76 deaddolphinsand porpoises in January.

Port-mortems were performed on 13 of them, and five of those showed signs of having been caught in nets, while some others died of natural causes.

Read more here:

More dead dolphins washing up on Cornish beaches than ever, figures show - Telegraph.co.uk