A grey finless porpoise was washed ashore and found dead, with blood coming from its eyes, at a Quanzhou wharf in China's southeastern province of Fujian. [Photo / Chinanews.com]

A grey finless porpoise was washed ashore and found dead, with blood coming from its eyes, at a Quanzhou wharf in China's southeastern province of Fujian on Mar. 28, Chinanews.com reported.

The critically endangered animal was spotted by an angler fishing near the sea and then reported to the police, said a local officer named Liu Lihong.

Experts say the cause of death is still a mystery, but the blood coming from its eyes may indicate that it had been exposed to air for too long.

A close cousin of the Baiji dolphin, which was declared functionally extinct, the finless mammal species is known for its mischievous smile and has a level of intelligence comparable to that of a gorilla.

There are only around 1,000 left in the main section of the Yangtze River and connecting lakes, with numbers declining by almost 14 percent a year, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The police say the animal's body is now frozen at a local ocean and fisheries bureau and will be given to a research center under China's State Oceanic Administration.

A Chinese White Dolphin, or Sousa Chinensis, was also found dead in a nearby wharf on Mar. 25, following three similar cases in 2015, 2011 and 2007 in neighboring waters.