Experts explain how mountain of trapped sharks may have washed up on Welsh beach

Around 200 dead sharks that washed up on a Welsh beach may have been caught by accident by a fisherman who didn't know what to do with such a large catch, experts believe. Last Sunday (May 24) people reported seeing a mountain of dead sharks tangled in netting on the sand at Pembrey Beach in Carmarthenshire . People described the sight on the beach, which is also known as Cefn Sidan, as "sad and shocking". Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here . It was unknown how the sharks ended up on the beach, with some suggesting that a net on a trawling boat might have broken and been lost at sea, while others thought it might be an abandoned catch that was washed up. Marine Environmental Monitoring, a conservation organisation, has now provided an update. Members of the organisation have attended the beach in the past week and carried out an investigation. They confirmed that the net contained around 200 sharks. "The net was a gill type fishing net that would have been set at sea," a spokesperson for the group said. "The net was full of around 200 adult female and male Tope and Smooth-hound sharks. There was also a small handful of small cat sharks within the net. All the sharks had recently died, unfortunately most likely within the net. "We collected several of each species and sex for further investigation. Pembrey country park then arranged disposal of the rest of the animals and net." It remains unclear who is responsible for the dead sharks, but the conservation group believe it could have been a fisherman who caught more than they could handle. The spokesperson added: "It currently isn’t possible to work out who the net belonged to but it is possible that it was a hobby 'fisherman' who didn’t know how to deal with it, or was maybe hand hauling from a small boat and couldn’t get it aboard due to the weight and cut it loose. "We will be working with the Welsh government , NRW and the local authority to better understand what happened and find ways to prevent it in future." Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice .