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Storm aftermath: dead seals, dolphins, and porpoises wash up on west Wales beaches

FOLLOWING storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin that have all battered the country over the last week, 13 dead seals, porpoises and dolphins have washed up on beaches across west Wales after being unable to cope with sizeable waves and strong swells.

Marine Environmental Monitoring (MEM) attended the scenes to retrieve the carcasses of the animals.

Run by Matt Westfield, with veterinary support from London Zoo, MEM has retrieved common dolphin carcasses from beaches such as Ynyslas, Ceredigion, and Aberdesach, Gwynedd

MEM have also attended a number of sites, from Anglesey all the way down the west coast to Pembrokeshire following the week of storms that have struck the country.

Two of the dolphins recovered by MEM showed little signs of injury but had varying degrees of damage caused by scavengers.

One of the dolphins was removed from Ynyslas beach last Thursday following storm Dudley, while the second was discovered on Aberdesach beach by members of the public and was reported to MEM last Friday but, due to weather conditions, it couldn’t be retrieved until Sunday.

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Matt Westfield said: “It’s hoped these two common dolphins will give us a better understanding as to what happened to them during the storms,” said Matt.

“A few of the animals found dead may have died of natural causes at sea, and were brought ashore by the storms.

“We suspect most were young and inexperienced animals who died in the storms.”

“Reports of marine carcases and strandings always increase following storms.

“What was unusual this time was the passage of storms Dudley, Eunice and then Franklin in quick succession.

“It means that instead of being busy for 48 hours, we expect to be responding to calls for at least seven days.”

Alongside this, thousands of Starfish have washed up on Wiseman’s Bridge in Pembrokeshire. The recent storms are believed to have caused this as well.

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