Reports of an increased number of seahorses washed up dead on the shoreline of the Isle of Wight have led to concerns for the creatures.

The Isle of Wight Nature Facebook group showed several dead seahorses prompted speculation as to what had caused the upsurge.

But a marine life scientist contacted by the County Press said it not something that had reached him and, in general things wer looking good for the species in local waters.

Roger Herbert, who lives in Newport but works at Bournemouth University, said, "I am no expert on seahorses however I suspect the incidents were due to strong easterly winds last week that disturbed their habitat — seagrass and filamentous algae.

"We have seen increase in sightings of seahorse in recent years especially in the Solent."

Comments on Kim Brown's IW Nature page post suggested similar weather-related groundings as well as illegal fishing dragging along the bottom in our waters.

If you want to help The Seahorse Trust and find out more about the species click here.