THE sightings of dead sharks and porpoises washed up on beaches in Prestatyn and Rhyl are not thought to be connected to each other.
About a fortnight ago, roughly 30 small dead sharks were found on a beach in Prestatyn, while last week, deceased porpoises were seen on multiple occasions on Rhyl Beach.
Another porpoise had to be euthanised on June 15 after washing up on the beach at Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey.
Matthew Westfield, strandings co-ordinator for Wales at the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), said that the organisation became aware of the sightings via Facebook, rather than direct reports.
As a result, the CSIP struggled to identify exact locations initially, before finding about 15 smooth-hound sharks on a beach in Prestatyn.
But, he said, “They had all been scavenged on by birds, meaning we weren’t able to collect any useful samples for further investigation.
“Thankfully, we have been provided a number of pictures by locals which are helping with the investigation.
“We are working with the local authority, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Welsh Government to further investigate what happened to cause these sharks to wash up.”
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Mr Westfield also confirmed that three reports of porpoises washed up near to Rhyl were also made to the CSIP in the last week.
He urged anyone who finds a stranded cetacean, seal, shark or marine turtle, to contact the CSIP immediately on 0800 652 0333.
“Our investigation into these strandings have shown they are in no way related to the sharks strandings,” he added.
“The first report we got was to an adult female porpoise that had washed up on the beach in front of Beaumaris lifeboat station on Anglesey.
“This female had recently died at sea. She also showed signs of very recently giving birth which we believe was a contributing factor in her death.
“The next porpoise was an adult male. This one had been dead for a number of days before washing up. It had no obvious injuries so it is currently not clear why it died.
“The third porpoise was a only a few days old and unable to survive without its mother. It was first reported to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) who did what they could to look after it but due to its age, it didn't survive.
“It is very possible that this one was related to the first porpoise that washed up.”
Dan Jarvis, director of welfare and conservation at BDMLR, said the sharks sightings may be linked to an issue regarding “bycatch”.
This is when fishermen sometimes catch and then discard animals they do not want, cannot sell, or are not allowed to keep.
He said: “I think these are all separate and unrelated events, as far as I am aware.
“The porpoises appear to have died some considerable time apart, given that one is fairly fresh and one is very decomposed.
“The sharks I'd be more concerned sounds like a problem with bycatch in a fishery where they have been discarded overboard, unfortunately.”
Rhyl Beach also had squid eggs and spider crabs, which one resident described as “like alien beings”, wash up on its seafront last month.
NRW echoed calls for reports of stranded animals to be made to both the BDMLR and the CSIP.
As well as documenting strandings, the CSIP also retrieves a proportion for investigation at post-mortem examination to investigate the whale, dolphin or porpoise’s cause of death.
A NRW spokesperson said: "We are aware of separate recent reports of starry smooth-hound sharks and porpoises washing up on beaches in Denbighshire.
“It isn’t clear what has caused either of these events and there could be various, potentially unrelated, reasons.
"Any dead sharks or marine mammals found on the beach should not be handled by the public.
“We advise that members of the public contact British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) if they find stranded animals.”
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