Did a porpoise in the U.K. really die from having too much sex?

Reports from the U.K. last week claimed that a porpoise found dead in an alley had died because of having “too much sex.” That sounds crazy, because it actually is.

The 110-pound porpoise was found dead on Nov. 1, leaving locals in Pilgrims Walk, Worthing puzzled. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue told The Argus that the porpoise likely washed up on the beach and was taken inland by a person who dumped the body in the alley.

Rob Deaville of the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme team told The Argus that it was a male porpoise that probably only died a few days before it was discovered.

“The cause of death seems to be starvation and hypothermia,” Deaville said. “This appears to be an elderly porpoise, which would have had to expend most of his energy reserves to mate – leaving him deathly hungry and cold.” He later added, “Their health spirals downward, and they die as a result of both starvation and hypothermia.”

That quote was picked up by sites like The Mirror and Metro as meaning that the porpoise had died from “too much sex.”

But the Huffington Post contacted Deaville today, who said that the “journalist in question was a bit liberal with his imagination.”

Deaville made the mistake of telling the reporter that mating could have been one of the reasons why it lost energy and died. There’s no evidence that directly links mating to the porpoise death.