Hundreds of Dead Starfish Washed Up Onto Beach

HUNDREDS of dead starfish have been washed up on a beach days after large numbers were found off the south east coast, it emerged yesterday.

The lifeless creatures were discovered on the pebbles at Black Rock on Brighton beach in Sussex.

Thousands were spotted dead on the shoreline between Pegwell Bay and Sandwich in east Kent ten days ago.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: “We are visiting the marina today to inspect the starfish and investigate what might have caused them to be washed up.”

“These have appeared since the storms, so we are looking into whether this is due to the weather conditions or if another reason is behind it.”

The Environment Agency is still analysing why the dead starfish appeared in such numbers in Kent last weekend.

Starfish feed on mussels and congregate in large numbers.

One theory is that they had been disturbed on the sea bed while feeding and had either been washed up or discarded by fishermen on the shore following mussel dredging.

The agency has already ruled out pollution or weather as possible causes.

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