Heartbreak as dead seal with plastic bag in its mouth found on beach

A dead seal was found washed up on the shore of New Brighton with a plastic bag in its mouth.

The sorry sight was discovered today, June 23, by a passing family - who fear the animal may have died after choking on the plastic bag, as "it didn't have any clear injuries".

Finder Hannah Finn said: "It looks as if it has a black plastic bag in its mouth and could be how it has died. I thought it was quite sad and makes clear how polluted the waters are."

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Last month, swimmers in New Brighton launched a campaign to have the waters near the resort given bathing water status in an effort to drive down sewage pollution. This followed reports that the beach was one of the most polluted in the UK, with more than two years' worth of sewage being pumped into the water in 2023.

A 2019 University of Exeter study of dolphins, seals and whales washed up on British shores found 100% of them had microplastic particles their stomachs and intestines. The majority of these were synthetic fibres that may have been from clothes or fishing nets. Others were fragments of larger pieces that could have come from food packaging or plastic bottles.

Animals in the study were found to have died from a variety of causes, but those that died due to infectious diseases had slightly more plastic in their bodies than those that died of injuries or other causes.

According to environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, plastic kills 1m sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals, turtles and fish every year. The problem of plastic pollution in our waters is particularly devastating, as it can take hundreds of years to break down.

Animals can become trapped and injured by plastic, and such pollution also disrupts their habitats, making it difficult for some species to live and breed. Seals are some of the most common types of marine animal found entangled in plastics, fishing nets, or other types of debris. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Marine Mammal Project, fishing gear was involved in 75% of entanglement cases.

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