Look what washed up on St Andrews beach…

The recent wild weather has not been kind to our marine life, and further evidence has emerged after a creature from the deep washed up on a St Andrews beach.

Iain Beaton discovered the body of what is believed to be a conger eel at West Sands while out walking this morning.

The Beast from the East and Storm Emma weather events have been blamed for huge numbers of aquatic creatures washing up on shores across the UK in recent days.

Millions of fish, lobsters and eels appeared on the Yorkshire coastline in recent days after Storm Emma brought high tides and howling winds.

Iain’s photo sparked plenty of debate when he posted it to the St Andrews Photo Corner page on Facebook.

European conger eels typically grow to around 3m in length, but much larger examples have been found.

One measuring over 6m, or 20ft, was caught off the coast of Devon in 2015.

They are more commonly found on Scotland’s west coast than the east.

Photo courtesy of St Andrews Handy Man Iain Beaton