The number of whales and dolphins washing up on British beaches has risen sharply in the past seven years, a new study has revealed.

Nearly 5,000 marine mammals were washed up on UK shorelines between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2017 – a 15 per cent rise on the previous seven-year period.

That includes beaches in Ceredigion, which have seen a number of dolphins and porpoises wash up.

Recently, Aberystwyth’s South Beach also saw a dead seal washed onto the beach.

Marine biologists believe the majority of the deaths are from disease or after becoming trapped in fishing nets.

The report, published by the government and led by international conservation charity Zoological Society of London, also reveals that 2017 witnessed the highest number of strandings since 1990 – with over 1,000 reported.

Researchers from the collaborative UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme recorded 21 different marine mammals on British shores – including dolphins, whales and porpoises – as well as six species of marine turtle and several species of large bodied sharks.

ZSL’s Rob Deaville, the report lead, said: “We routinely produce reports like this for Defra and the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, who co-fund the programme and 4,896 is an increase of about 15 per cent on the previous seven-year period.

“It’s difficult to say conclusively what’s driven this rise, but it’s potentially associated with multiple causes, including increases in local reporting effort and seasonal variation in the population density of some species.”

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