WARNING: Graphic contentA cropped image of one of the seals seen on the beach (Image: Faith Hannon)

A couple walking along a beach in Cornwall stumbled across the awful sight of dead seals surrounded by a flock of seagulls.

Faith Hannon, who was walking along the coast with her boyfriend near Hayle yesterday at 11am, says a total of six seals could be seen washed up far from the shoreline.

Faith said that of the seals she saw on Gwithian beach, three of them were headless and all of them were dead.

While she suggested killer whales could be the cause, a marine conservation officer has offered another explanation.

“We went up to go check and the seagulls flew away, there was half a seal,” Faith said.

One of the seals found on the beach, which was not decapitated (Image: Faith Hannon)

“We left it be and we carried on walking and there was two more headless seals. We carried on down and there were three more dead seals, but they were full bodies. But they were all dead.”

She described a foul smell as she passed one of the carcasses. She indicated that there was no sign of an attack, but the pair have speculated on what could have happened.

“My boyfriend thought it could have been a killer whale maybe,” suggested Faith.

“Sometimes they target seals and sometimes they kill for the fun of it, which would explain the ones that are full bodied,” she adds.

The Marines Strandings Network Team said that within the last week, lots of seals have been reported at Gwithian and Hayle, mainly pups.

Three of the seals did not have a head(Image: Faith Hannon)

Their experts said that it is quite common at this time of year for seals to be stranded as they struggle to find food, and said the beach owners have been notified.

Rebecca Allen, marine conservation officer, said: “We do often get seal strandings with no head.

“It’s generally thought that the head gets damaged and scavenged first and so is most likely to disintegrate or be eaten quicker than the rest of the body.

“We ask that if anybody comes across a dead marine animal, they call our dedicated strandings hotline on 0345 201 2626.”