Walkers along beaches across the North East have been expressing concern at the high number of marine animals washing up dead.

This comes just days after a porpoise and a variety of seabirds were washed up near Saltburn.

Beachgoers at Middleton Beach and Cattersty Beach have seen seals and gulls dead on the beach.

This latest incident piles more pressure on previous calls for an investigation to get to the root cause of the problem.

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Lorraine Bateman was walking along Cattersty Beach when she came across ‘four dead seals and five dead razorbills’.

She said: “Two of the seals were pups, one was up on the sand dunes and the other was near WW2 bunker.

The Northern Echo: A seal found on Cattersby beach

“I have reported the birds.

“They are similar to the other pictures someone took at Marske.”

Fellow walkers were quick to emphasise the importance of reporting the incident to the Environment Agency and British Marine Rescue.

Another beachgoer reported to seeing up to 80 dead birds on a walk along Middleton Beach.

Anita Conway recounted her experiences walking along the North East coast at the moment.

She said: “There have been hundreds of the deep sea divers, mainly Razorbills and Guillemots washing up dead.

The Northern Echo: A seabird washed up on Cattersby beach

“Any that I’ve seen alive on the beach are dead by the time I get them off it.

“Apparently all the charities are inundated with calls."

The community wants to know what could be causing such a variety of sea creatures to die.

Some have pointed to avian bird flu as a potential cause but until an investigation is carried out the cause will remain a mystery.

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A DEFRA spokesperson said: “Dead seals should be reported to the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) by calling their hotline on 0800 652 0333.

“We recommend that the animal is not touched.

“Unfortunately, some smaller marine line, such as crustaceans and starfish, can be vulnerable to wash ups as they tend to live or migrate to the shallow water which means they are more likely to be swept onto beaches, particularly following rough seas, higher tides or strong winds.”