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While losses from mortality are as important as gains from reproduction in zooplankton population dynamics, the former are more challenging to quantify. We used two approaches to provide complementary insights into the mortality of a biomass‐dominant copepod, Calanus helgolandicus, at Station L4 in the English Channel. Using a neutral‐red staining method, we found that dead carcasses represented a mean of 9% of the C. helgolandicus copepodites sampled. The resulting nonconsumptive mortality rates are the first that have been derived for C. helgolandicus; and estimates suggest a contribution of 0–54% (median of 4.4%) to the total mortality rate. Consumptive mortality (i.e., that due to removal by predation), dominated for most of the year and contributed a mean of 89% to total mortality. Nonconsumptive mortality increased during summer and winter, and was positively related to maximum wind speed …