'Beast from the East' Results In Massive Marine Life Die-Off in UK

Freezing temperatures from a European winter storm last week dubbed the "Beast from the East" has resulted in a massive die-off of marine wildlife along the Britain coast.

Photos posted to social media show mounds of dead crustaceans including lobster, clams, mussels and starfish washed up on eastern beaches along the North Sea in England.

Scientists say the sea creatures died when water temperatures dropped significantly during the cold snap.

“There was a 3-degree-Celsius drop (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in sea temperature last week, which will have caused animals to hunker down and reduce their activity levels,” Bex Lynam, North Sea marine advocacy officer for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said in a press release.

Conservationists and fisherman in the area are now teaming up to help save stranded lobsters that remain alive. 

While the site of the dead sea creatures is disturbing, biologists say each species should recover quickly. 

“Marine life is generally quick to colonize spaces left empty,” Richard Harrington of the Marine Conservation Society told the BBC's Discover Wildlife. “It remains to be seen whether there will be longer-term casualties, in population terms, from what we hope will stay an unusual, rarely repeated event.”