The bodies of hundreds of jellyfish weighing 10-15 kg have washed ashore along the southeastern coast of Bangladesh since the government lifted its fishing ban in the Bay of Bengal at the end of July.
This phenomenon has been reported at Cox’s Bazar beach in the Chittagong division, according to Anadolu Agency on August 13. The unusual mass death of jellyfish has raised concerns among experts and officials in Bangladesh.
Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, a resident of Cox’s Bazar and head of the local branch of the Bangladesh Environmental Movement (BAPA), stated that when he visited the beach, he saw hundreds of dead jellyfish.
A dead jellyfish washed up on Cox’s Bazar beach. (Photo: Dhaka Tribune).
“We, the people living near the beach in Cox’s Bazar, have never seen such a large number of dead jellyfish,” he said. “Too many people irresponsibly dump waste into the Bay of Bengal, causing ocean pollution.”
Deepak Sharma, Chairman of the Cox’s Bazar Forest and Environment Conservation Council, noted that jellyfish typically die sporadically in winter, but this phenomenon is rare during the rainy season or fishing season.
“We saw jellyfish washed ashore right after the government lifted its fishing ban and hundreds of fishing boats went out to sea in the Bay of Bengal,” Sharma said. “We suspect that marine creatures got caught in deep-sea fishing nets, died, and then drifted ashore.”
“Fishermen do not collect or sell jellyfish. Instead, they throw them back into the sea, whether they are alive or dead,” he added.
The Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute has collected several samples from the beach. “We suspect that the jellyfish died after getting caught in fishermen’s nets and were washed ashore by the tide,” said Abu Sayeed Muhammad Sharif, a senior researcher at the institute.
