Storms bring dozens of octopuses to Welsh beach

Photo Courtesy: UPI

Oct. 30 (UPI) — More than two dozen octopuses littered a Welsh beach every night for three days amid strong storms that hit the Irish Sea.

Local residents said they were baffled to see the creatures come out in such large numbers at New Quay beach in western Wales.

“They were coming out of the water and crawling up the beach,” Brett Jones told The Telegraph. “I’ve lived here my whole lifetime and have never seen anything like it.”

“It was a bit like an end-of-days scenario,” he added.

Although the curled octopus is a common species in Britain’s waters, the sensitive creatures are typically found more than 300 feet beneath the surface.

The “extremely odd” behavior was incredibly rare for the octopuses, who experts say are “fairly vulnerable” on dry land.

Some scientists attribute the octopus invasion to the effects of recent storms along the North Devon and Welsh coasts.

“This account of a number on the same beach is quite odd, but them even being found in the intertidal is not common and suggests there is something wrong with them I am afraid,” James Wright, curator at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, said.

“It could simply be injuries sustained by the rough weather itself or there could be a sensitivity to a change in atmospheric pressure.”

Hurricane Ophelia and storm Brian battered the Welsh coast earlier this month with gusts up to 80 mph.

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