A number of dead seal pups have washed up on the north Norfolk coast, with people reporting that they appeared to have a number of visible wounds.

Eastern Daily Press: Dead seal pups have washed up on beaches in Heacham and Hunstanton. Phone Steve ShawDead seal pups have washed up on beaches in Heacham and Hunstanton. Phone Steve Shaw (Image: Archant)

Seven of the seals were found by Eve Howard who is on holiday in Heacham and had taken her children to the beach on Sunday morning.

She said: 'There was seven of them and they appeared as if they had been chopped somehow. I don't know what could have caused it. There are some dredgers visible quite far off the coast but I don't know if they could have done it.'

Further along the coast from Heacham the Oasis leisure centre in Hunstanton confirmed that they had also found dead seals and the bodies were being removed.

While there is currently no information about what may have caused the deaths, a previous five year study on the death of seal pups on the coast found that it was likely they were killed by adult male seals for food.