Dead Sea Slugs Wash Up at Wailoaloa Beach

Climate activist AnnMary Raduva is calling on the Ministry of Fisheries to investigate the unusual discovery of dead sea slugs, beche-de-mer or dairo along Wailoaloa Beach in Nadi on Saturday morning.

Ms Raduva was with her siblings and mother when they discovered thousands of dead sea slugs washed ashore by the early morning tide.

“It looked like pebbles but when we got closer, there was a horrible stench, and we knew something was wrong,” she said.

“I was saddened and disappointed at the realisation that they were dead sea slugs that littered the beach. I’m calling on the Ministry of Fisheries to take necessary measures and investigate this incident because somewhere out there, someone is over harvesting this delicacy. Or it could be a result of seawater being contaminated. I may be wrong, but this is the first time I am seeing this and it’s not something we’d like to see happen again.

Dead sea slugs found at Wailoaloa Beach in Nadi.

“These are a source of income and food for many of our coastal communities and we need to protect them from commercialised fishing. We need to work with scientists to ensure that we understand the impact of climate change in our everyday living, especially with the humidity we’ve been experiencing lately,” she said.

Ms Raduva is confident the Ministry of Fisheries and relevant government agencies will do a follow-up with the findings on the beach!

“We have shot a video of it which can help authorities with their investigations.”

The video of the climate activist is posted on social media platforms and online forums.

Comment was sought from the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Kalaveti Ravu, but this proved futile when this edition went to press.

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