A SEAL washed up dead on Aberystwyth south beach could be the first of many over the next week, experts fear.

The stranded moulted female Atlantic grey seal was spotted in front of Castle Point on south beach by resident Sharon Stuart on Thursday afternoon after the tide receded.

Rod Penrose, Wales strandings co-ordinator for the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), told the Cambrian News that the weather for seals has not been good this year, with more strandings expected following the strong winds off the Welsh coast at the tail-end of Hurricane Ophelia which hit on Monday.

The stranding at Aberystwyth south beach has been added to the UK Strandings Database, operated by CSIP.

“I fear there will be lots more after these winds,” Mr Penrose said.

“Pups are born from around September onwards, tailing off in November and December.

“It hasn’t been a good year weather wise for them so far, so we are getting lots of dead pups.

“Seals around Wales are predominately grey seals, the major breeding seal colony is in Pembrokeshire estimated at around 5,500 animals.

“The only other species is the common or harbour seal of which there is only a handful in Wales mainly on the Llyn peninsula.

“Funding was pulled from seals in 1994 so we do not collect or examine carcasses, however, we do keep a database of mortality – so if numbers start to climb above the average we can take this evidence to the various government bodies and hopefully look into what may be causing it.”

Anyone spotting a stranded seal can report the finding to CSIP on freephone 0800 6520333.

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