A TINY porpoise was found dead on a beach.

An adult harbour porpoise, the smallest dolphin-like creature found in England, was spotted on Brighton seafront on Saturday.

Brighton Dolphin Project sightings coordinator Thea Taylor said it was a "sad sight to see".

"The animal is an adult harbour porpoise, the smallest cetacean we have in England," she said.

"It's a very sad sight to see, there was another one reported in Eastbourne as well."

The Argus: The harbour porpoise was reported dead on SaturdayThe harbour porpoise was reported dead on Saturday

Brighton resident Summer Tyrell was on a seafront bike ride on noon Sunday when she noticed the stranding between Brighton Marina and Rottingdean.

"It was quite small so definitely a baby, but too big to be a fish," she said.

"It looked like a dolphin but it wasn't fully-grown."

The Argus: Ms Tyrell said the creature was too big to be a fishMs Tyrell said the creature was too big to be a fish

The porpoise was not the first aquatic mammal to be stranded on Sussex's beaches this year.

In January a young common dolphin was found dead on Lancing beach with injuries consistent with fishing bycatch.