AT TIMES the devastation looked apocalyptic, with hundreds of birds, lobsters and crabs washed up on beaches along the East Yorkshire coast.
Wildlife experts admit the storms that hit the region recently could have a far-reaching impact on marine life populations.
About 1,000 birds were found dead, with many more perishing out at sea, while thousands of lobsters, crabs and razor shells were left stranded on beaches.
Birds were left exhausted and emaciated as they battled strong winds and struggled to find food.
Many died after being washed up on East Yorkshire's beaches following March's violent storms.
Of the 1,000 birds washed up dead on Yorkshire's beaches after the storms, puffins made up 500 of them.
RSPB reserves manager Keith Clarkson said: "At the moment, it is all guesswork and speculation but we should have a better idea what the impact is on the colonies at Bempton Cliffs in a few weeks.
"We have a team of more than 30 volunteers who each take a section of cliff and monitor 50 birds to see if they lay eggs, when they hatch and when the chicks fledge.
"This information provides a very accurate gauge as to whether it has been a good or bad breeding season."
At this time of year, pairs of the birds should be heading to Bempton Cliffs but they had been staying offshore due to the adverse weather and were starving to death.
The RSPB believes the birds struggled to find food or succumbed to exhaustion, although the exact cause is still not known.
Mr Clarkson hopes the bird populations can recover quickly from the tragedy.
"It will be interesting to see the results of our monitoring," he said. "We have had good breeding seasons in recent years but we'll just have to see this time round.
"The number of deaths will have a significant impact on the puffin population.
"But they live for 30 to 40 years, so, hopefully, they will be able to recover.
"If the breeding birds have survived and have a successful season then the impact will be short-lived but if they are too exhausted to breed then the effects will be longer term."
There are concerns these violent storms could become more regular with climate change kicking in.
Mr Clarkson believes it is important the RSPB and other wildlife and conservation groups do all they can to protect the fauna.
"We are looking at tagging some kittewakes with GPS devices to find out where they feed," he said.
"If we can protect both the feeding and breeding grounds then, hopefully, the birds can withstand natural disasters like this."
There is also a fear the populations of shellfish and crustaceans have taken a serious knock.
Thousands of crabs, lobsters and mussels were washed up on the Holderness coast after the storms.
A team of 25 fishermen came to the rescue of about 450 lobsters but that is only a fraction of the numbers of crustaceans that perished.
The numbers washed up dead could be in the tens of thousands and it is thought most had starved to death.
Anthony Hurd, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Living Seas manager, said: "This was a highly unusual event.
"There were so many different species washed up in such a short space of time.
"One worry was the number of lobsters washed up carrying eggs which could have an impact on numbers in the future.
"But there was a mixture of juveniles and adults hit. It was the same with the edible crabs."
The severe weather has also affected the shore life.
"We have carried out a number of shore safaris," said Mr Hurd. "And we have noticed some species have gone into deeper water to seek shelter.
"But we have also seen a lot more larger lobsters you wouldn't normally find in rock pools."
Other species have also been hit.
Although the cause of death is not know, a white-beaked dolphin washed up at Spurn Point two weeks ago.
"Further south there have been a dozen porpoises beached and there have also been a large number of razor shells washed up, too," said Mr Hurd.
"The last storm similar to this was in 1947, so it's a long time since we've witnessed anything like this.
"This was particularly cold and prolonged.
"It will be worrying if this became a more regular occurrence."
The storm could have an economic impact as well for East Yorkshire's inshore fisheries.
Roger Ackers, of the Independent Shellfishermen's Co-operative (Bridlington) Ltd, said: "We have already noticed how fewer lobsters there are now. The impact will be quite staggering.
"We saved about 500 but there were ten times that dead on the beach and many more we didn't see.
"We will now be closely monitoring numbers over the next few months. We can only hope this won't happen again before the populations have time to recover."
