HUNDREDS of seal pups have died at a Borders nature reserve during Storm Arwen.

A long clean up operation is being undertaken at St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve following the severe weather over the weekend.

According to a spokesperson, 224 dead pups were found in the water in a small area of the bay at Pettico Wick, with “many more” washing up ashore.

On Sunday, the spokesperson said: “Having worked on seal colonies for 10 years I’ve never seen a storm cause damage on anything like this scale before.

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“Unfortunately it appears we have lost the majority of our seal pups to this storm. In a small area of bay at Pettico Wick there were 224 dead pups in the water, with many more washing up ashore.

“We are planning to do another survey this week to see what the damage is to the rest of the colonies but it doesn’t look good.

“This is a risk grey seals take with their breeding strategy, pupping at this time of year when storms are most frequent.

“But for this kind of phenomenal storm to hit at the peak of pupping is exceptional.”