A post-mortem examination will be carried out on an otherwise healthy looking dolphin that washed up dead on the Gold Coast.

It is not known how long the animal had been dead when it came ashore at Broadbeach on Sunday without any scarring or visible injuries.

An autopsy will be carried out in coming days to determine whether it died from natural causes, Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long told AAP.

"It was slightly bloated, but it could be many things," he said of the bottlenose's cause of death.

He said the dead mammal was the latest in a string of dolphin strandings in the area.

A three-month pregnant female repeatedly stranded at Cape Moreton this month.

The 15-year-old suffered skin abrasions from rolling around on the shoreline.

That dolphin - now nicknamed "Sandy" - is in veterinary care, with handlers hoping to release the expectant mother once she has recovered and her pod is found.

They are also hoping test results from the US will shed light on why she washed ashore, Mr Long said.

A third dolphin with a fishing line embedded in its tail was found dead at The Spit last week.

"It probably had a slow death, unfortunately," Mr Long said.

"It was very thin, very emaciated and the line had cut very deeply into its tail."