Thousands of dead sea creatures appear on the beaches of England

(CNN) – British environmental groups launched an investigation after thousands of dead sea creatures turned up on beaches in northeast England.

Marske-by-the-Sea resident Sharon Bell told CNN that she walked on the beach near her home every day and had seen a “constant accumulation of soft crustaceans” in recent weeks.

Bell said he went to the beach Monday morning and was surprised to see that “the seaweed was piled up to waist level, but it was absolutely full, and I mean thousands of dead crabs and live crabs, of all kinds. varieties, also lobsters “.

She told CNN that she visited the beach again on Wednesday, only to find that the smell was “absolutely terrible” as the piles of dead crabs began to “decompose.”

Courtesy Sharon Bell.

The UK Environment Agency told CNN it was working with the Center for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture and the North East Coastal Fisheries Conservation Authority to investigate why hundreds of dead crabs have turned up throughout the shoreline on the Tees estuary and neighboring beaches.

“Samples of water, sediment, mussels and crabs were collected” and sent for analysis to “consider whether a contamination incident could have contributed to the death of the animals,” the Environment Agency spokesman told CNN.

Courtesy Sharon Bell.

Jacob Young, who represents the coastal town of Redcar in the UK Parliament, tweeted on Sunday that events along the shores were “deeply disturbing”.

Bell said she and her husband spent more than four hours trying to get as many crabs that were still alive and trapped in the algae back into the water.

Courtesy Sharon Bell.

“It’s devastating to see them lying there,” he said. “It is sad because it is a very beautiful area to live in.”

Bell added that he hoped the locals would get answers. “If it’s a human-caused incident and we’ve really done it, then obviously we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.