Gulls walking dogs with “eyes” after finding a creature on the beach

A “gorgeous, brightly colored creature” was found washed up on the beach this morning.

Sue Titchmarsh made the discovery while walking her dogs on Moreton Beach in Wirral.

Sue said: “I was walking my two dogs when I noticed one sniffing something.” The shimmering beauty of the snake-like creature caught his eye and he stopped to examine it.

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She said: “I was hoping he was still alive but when I picked him up I realized he was dead. Two seagulls were watching me at that moment.”

Curious to know exactly what kind of animal it was, she took a photo and posted it on Facebook. One commenter suggested it was a “silver eel”, while another claimed “common or European eel (Anguilla Anguilla)”.

The general consensus, however, was that it was a congress.

According to the British Sea Fishing website, “The conger eel is found mostly on the west coast of the British Isles, but can be found elsewhere in the UK, including along the east coast, but in much smaller numbers.

“Larger congers are always female, with males maxing out at around 35lb. The largest conger lives in the sea, in deep water, where they often live in wrecks and are targeted by boat fishermen. A specimen weighing 350 lb was caught. by a trawler near the island of Vestmannaeyjar on the south coast of Iceland In May 2015, a 7m long conger was caught in the nets of a trawler off the coast of Devon and weighed 133lb after being gutted.

Sue, a keen walker and lover of wildlife, is saddened by the amount of dead wildlife she comes across on her walks in Wirral.

She said: “Unfortunately when I walk on our local beaches I often come across dead wildlife. Just a few weeks ago we found a dead dolphin on the beach near The Harvester pub in Wallasey.”

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