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Woman Spots Thousands Of Beetles Washed Up On UK Beach

Woman Spots Thousands Of Beetles Washed Up On UK Beach

Experts believe the creepy crawlies had come from mainland Europe

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

A passer-by received the shock of a lifetime when she was strolling along a beach and stumbled across thousands of creepy crawlies washed up on the shore. Watch the video below:

Sue Weatherill was walking on Cayton Bay, near Scarborough, when she spotted an enormous swarm of dead beetles clustered together.

Speaking to Hull Live, Ms Weatherill said she had never seen anything like it before and couldn't tell what they were.

She said: "I was out doing my hour exercise and I walked along the beach and could see what looked like tiny little seed pods.

"It was unusual for that beach - I've never actually seen anything like that before but when you actually looked closer they were sort of like beetles and had wings.

"I posted it when I got home and saw other people had seen similar things on that bay and up the coast. It seems to be the east coast.

"I was more stunned realising they were living creatures. There were just masses and masses of them."

Wowzers.
Sue Weatherill

She added: "Usually you see seaweed left behind by the tide and from a distance that's what it looks like and as you approach you think, 'What are these?'

"It's totally different to anything I've seen down there."

According to Scarborough and Burniston Coastguard Rescue Team, the bugs are European Chafer Beetles.

A statement released by the Coastguard said an investigation was underway.

It read: "Yesterday afternoon, whilst the team were on a coastal patrol, a member of the public alerted them to something strange on the beach.

Sue says she had never seen anything like it before.
Sue Weatherill

"It appears that a large number of European Chafer Beetles have washed up on a few beaches around Scarborough.

"The Coastguard Counter Pollution team have been informed so the source can be investigated."

This isn't the first time a beachgoer has stumbled across something pretty bizarre washed up on the sand.

In an unusual and slightly unnerving turn of events last year, thousands of bizarre little creatures called 'penis fish' washed ashore at Drakes Beach, California.

Also known as the fat innkeeper worm, which again feels like a decent enough name for them, it is thought that the strange marine animals washed ashore on the Pacific US coast after they were dragged from the depths by a recent storm.

Biologist Ivan Parr discovered the 'penis fish' washed up on the beach on 6 December, a few days after a particularly violent storm.

Featured Image Credit: Sue Weatherill

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Weird