Monday, October 26, 2026 • 7:46 PM UTC - in Denmark

A live seal has been washed up on the beach after the storm.

But the storm has also brought masses of plastic and a dead duck onto land.

A live seal is among the things that the violent storm has washed ashore on the beach along the Danish west coast. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR) 16 minutes ago.

The fierce storm that blew over the Danish west coast last night caused high water levels. This has also led to plastic, driftwood, and paraffin oil being washed up on the beach.

But also a dead duck and a live seal have ended up on land near Vester Vedsted, south of Ribe.

It is not unusual for the water to bring a lot of things ashore when the autumn storms arrive, says Jan Ryttergaard, a nature guide at the Wadden Sea Centre in Vester Vedsted – and it is also not the first time that the water has brought a seal pup ashore.

"After the storms last winter, we found some seal pups up in the village, which lies a couple of kilometers from the coast."

* The storm brought several things ashore. Among them this unidentifiable lump. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR)

* A dead duck also reached land on the west coast after the storm. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR)

* Masses of plastic, like this bottle, washed ashore during the storm. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR)

1 of 3 The storm brought several things ashore. Among them this unidentifiable lump. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR) 1 of 3 A dead duck also reached land on the west coast after the storm. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR) 2 of 3 Masses of plastic, like this bottle, washed ashore during the storm. (Photo: © Viktor Houman, DR) 3 of 3

But one thing that the water always washes ashore is plastic.

"We can take it as a sign that there is a lot of plastic out in the Wadden Sea, and that we might need to think about how much plastic we use in our daily lives."

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Every cloud has a silver lining

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Although a storm can throw a lot of garbage and other things onto the Danish coasts, there is also a positive effect from the violent weather, says Jan Ryttergaard.

"Nature likes it when things get stirred up."

"It creates habitats for a lot of animals and plants, and when a lot of plant debris lies around and rots, it provides nutrients for other plants."

When the seal pup spotted our DR reporter and Jan Ryttergaard on the beach, it got scared and headed back out into the Wadden Sea.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.