13 dolphins, porpoises and seals die amid storms
CARCASSES FOUND ON BEACHES AFTER DUDLEY AND EUNICE
MARINE animals off the Welsh coast have fallen victim to successive storms battering the UK recently.
In recent days, 13 dead seals, dolphins and porpoises have been found washed up on West Wales beaches after struggling to cope with strong swells and towering waves.
All were reported to Marine Environmental Monitoring (MEM), a group run by Matt Westfield with veterinary support from London Zoo.
After visiting several sites from Pembrokeshire to Anglesey the group collected common dolphin carcasses from Ynyslas, Ceredigion and Aberdesach, Gwynedd.
Postmortem examinations were due to be carried out on the animals by the Zoological Society of London.
“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.”
The two dolphins recovered by MEM showed few signs of injury but had varying degrees of scavenger damage.
The dolphin on Ynyslas beach, north of Borth, Ceredigion, was recovered a week last Thursday after Storm Dudley.
It was a young male, measuring 1.45m long, with some scavenger damage around the left eye.
The second dolphin, found on Aberdesach beach, south of Pontllyfni, Gwynedd, was reported to MEM a week last Friday.
However, due to Storm Eunice, the group couldn’t collect the carcass until the Sunday morning.
It was another young male at just over 1.50m. As it had been on the beach longer, it has suffered greater scavenger damage.
“Conditions were still rough due to Storm Franklin but we were able to recover it and, despite the damage, it will still provide valuable data.”
Helping out with the recovery in Gwynedd were Wildlife Trust Wales and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.
Matt added: “Reports of marine carcasses 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.” Last November, in the wake of Storm Arwen, MEM retrieved a Kemp’s Ridleys turtle – the world’s rarest turtle – from Talacre beach in Flintshire.