Mystery surrounds the death of hundreds of fish found washed up on a beach in Fujairah yesterday. The fish were washed up at low tide yesterday afternoon. The bodies of dozens of fish could be seen littering the beach between the SandyBeach Hotel and the new Emirates Beach Resort which is under construction.

Hundreds of other fish could be seen floating in the shallow waters off the beach. Among the dead were tuna, rayf, spoonbills and various other species. None of the fish had any marks or signs of disease to indicate the cause of death. Police and Municipality officials who were called to the beach could offer no explanation for what had happened but speculated it could be a result of pollution.

Another explanation was offered by Sulaiman Al Khadeem, Head of Dibba Al Fujairah Fishermen's Association. He said that three Asians set out to sea on Thursday in three boats without any nationals on board. They caught huge quantities of a particular type of fish which is sold very cheap in the market. Realising that the catch was too big, they then threw some of the fish back into the sea, which were later washed up on the beach yesterday morning.