Seaside visitors were stunned to discover more than a dozen dead sharks washed up on a beach today.

The haul of 16 dogfish sharks - distant relatives to the large predators - was discovered by a dog walker on Herne Bay seafront this afternoon.

They were spotted by Joe Bauwens, of Central Parade, along the coast between Neptune car park and Beltinge.

He said: "I have never seen or heard of a mortality event like this affecting dogfish before. It's a curious event and a little bit of a mystery.

"I was walking along the beach at about noon today. I counted 14 between the Neptune Car Park and the Ship Inn, one by the King's Hall and one on the foreshore beneath the downs on the Beltinge foreshore."

Mr Bauwens previously studied marine biology at Portsmouth University and has a keen interest in sharks.

He added: "They don't show any signs of damage apart from the seagulls attacking them. All of them are very fresh.

"They appear to be the adult species of Lesser Spotted Dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula).

"None appear diseased, as sharks of all species are notoriously resistant to disease.

"It is difficult to see how anything could have poisoned them and not got anything else.

"Possibly they are by-catch from a fishing vessel, though the weather has been very poor for a few days.

"Also only small vessels typically work in the area and the species can usually survive being caught in a net briefly and thrown back."

The dogfish sharks, which are about a foot long, are members of the cat shark family.

Tom Hawkins, from the Canterbury City Council foreshore team, went to examine the sharks.

He said: "They have little or no commercial value and as such are often discarded by fisherman.

"The specimen I found at Neptune had been dead a while as it was missing its soft tissues (eyes, gills etc.).

"It's possible that a number were discarded out to sea and came ashore with the onshore breeze we have."