Hundreds of starfish stranded on Workington beach
Hundreds of starfish have been washed up in a mass stranding along a stretch of the Cumbrian coastline.
They were left scattered across the sands at Harrington after the tide went out.
Marine conservation officer Emily Baxter said the currents had combined with a very low tide to leave the starfish on the beach.
She said most of them would not survive for long outside the water in the heat of the sun.
Ms Baxter, from Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "It is a strange sight, we would normally see mass strandings like this in the winter where we've had storm events.
"It is unlikely all of them will make it, hopefully they had the chance to spawn and make lots of new starfish before they got washed up."
Photographer Gary McKeating, who captured the scene on Monday, said he had never seen anything like it.
"I go down to the shore most nights but the tide was the furthest out I've seen for a long time, it was quite an amazing sight," he said.