Sea creatures washed ashore during storm

Walkers along the seafront in Bray last weekend were greeted with an unfamiliar sight as lots of unusual sea life was thrown ashore during stormy weather.

Two ecologists from Wicklow town were amazed by the sheer volume of sealife that they saw as they walked along the Murrough on Saturday mornig.

‘I am 33 years of age and was born and bred in Wicklow town but I have never seen anything like this before. It wasn’t nice to see but it was interesting,’ said Aoife O’Rourke, who was out walking with Miles Newman.

‘Hundreds of stunning sea creatures had been thrown over the coastal defence boulders and onto the green itself - Tompot Blennies, Octopuses, Sun-Stars, Hermit Crabs, Sea Mice, and hundreds of sea anemones were strewn high and low. With such vivid colours, it was amazing to see them up close. What a rich diversity of sea life we have, even in our cold Irish seas.’

However, Aoife and Miles were more disturbed by the amount of plastic waste washed up along the coast.

‘Intermingled with the stones and sea creatures were washing up detergent bottles, drinks bottles and bits of toys and shoes,’ said Aoife.

Alex and Ava Bailey and Fionn Costello who were collecting the different types of sealife.

Some of the sealife found on Bray beach at the weekend.

Robyn and Hannah Lynch with an eel and a fish washed up on shore.