More than 20 dead seals have been washed up on the Co Wexford coastline in recent weeks, and more carcasses have been found in Wales.
In the last fortnight the carcasses of eight seals and a porpoise have been found on a stretch of beach between Tacumshane and Carne. Up to a dozen seriously ill seals have also been washed ashore and are being cared for at the Irish Seal Sanctuary headquarters in Garristown, Co Dublin.
Members of the Irish and Welsh seal sanctuaries want the Department of the Marine, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Wexford County Council to investigate the deaths.
Mr Ger Wooley, a local volunteer and a member of the Kilmore Coast Guard, said the deaths were very worrying. "In the past seven to eight weeks we have had over 20 dead seals here in Wexford, and they have been found in the space of four to five miles. The same thing is happening in Milford Haven, where the seals are suffering from the same conditions.
"They are extremely underweight, weighing no more than 10 to 15 kilos when they should be double that. They are practically down to their birth weight," he said.
Besides malnutrition, the seals are suffering from other ailments such as mouth ulcers, eye problems, brittle bones and facial disfiguration. The chairman of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, Mr Terry Flanagan, also expressed concern at the seal deaths.
He said the seals were dying in the area where the Sea Empress oil spill occurred near Milford Haven, off the Welsh coast, almost five years ago.
"I can't say whether that is responsible for this, but that is why we are looking for an investigation. There may be another reason, but at the moment we don't know," he said.