A family got more than they bargained for when they visited the Kent coast - and found a gruesome series of dead sea creatures within metres of each other.

Pictures show a mackerel, squid and thornback ray missing its tail all lying on the stone beach at Hampton, Herne Bay.

Brandon Whitfield was visiting the area with his wife and daughter when he made the grisly discoveries at about 5pm yesterday evening.

"Within about 15ft (4.5m) of each other was a squid and a fish, with the seagulls flying overhead waiting," said the Canterbury resident.

"And no more than 100ft (30.48m) from that we saw a big ray with its tail looking like it had been chewed off. We later found the tail close by.

"We used to live in Herne Bay for about eight years, and I can't remember seeing this amount of dead fish in the area.

"It feels like quite a lot of sealife to be washing up dead, especially in such a small area."

Dead sea creatures have been found on Kent's beaches on countless other occasions, often on a much larger scale.

Everything from porpoises, seals and dolphins, to sharks, whales, and exotic species such as sunfish from warmer climates have been discovered.

In March 2018, thousands of dead starfish were found strewn across the sand at Dumpton Gap in Broadstairs - a phenomenon apparently caused by stormy weather.

In February 2020, walkers were shocked to find "millions" of sand gapers - small squid-like creatures that are also known as soft shell clams - on Littlestone beach in Romney Marsh following another storm.

Three separate incidents last year saw dozens of dead dogfish, huge numbers of jellyfish and hundreds of dead fish all wash up on the Kentish shores.

It is not the first time a ray has caused intrigue in the area's beaches either, with an angler being hospitalised after being stung by the aquatic creature in 2016.

Canterbury City Council, which looks after the beaches in the district, told KentOnline that it was likely the mackerel and squid were used for bait.

The authority said: "The likely explanation is the squid and mackerel are common baits being used to catch Thornbacks; bait leftover was dumped - hence why they're together - and the ray was a bycatch that didn't survive having been returned."