Seal deaths on beach not suspicious, says charity

There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of seals whose bodies were found on a beach, a wildlife charity has said.

About five seal carcasses have appeared on Cromer beach in Norfolk recently, including some of pups and some that were headless.

A spokesperson for Friends of Horsey Seals confirmed it was aware and said the seals had likely died after being caught in high tides or had been attacked by male seals, known as bulls.

The county is home to large populations of grey seals, as well as common seals, with the Blakeney Point colony being the largest in England.

It is currently the breeding season for grey seals and Friends of Horsey Seals also warned that the mothers could abandon pups if they were disturbed by people.

The charity urged people to keep their distance, staying at least 100m (330ft) from the seals, to prevent this.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which has teams in the county as well as in Suffolk and Essex, has similarly warned current bad weather has been pushing pups ashore to wherever they can find shelter and they would need space to rest.

Neighbouring Suffolk is home to a large colony of grey seals at Orford Ness which, at the start of December, had seen more than 300 pups born.

The site is closed to the public during the winter, but people have still been warned not to attempt to gain access or fly drones overhead.

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