Khaberni - Omani activists shared videos on Wednesday showing the massive die-off of small shrimp on the Merbat beach in the Dhofar Governorate, southern Sultanate of Oman, in a striking scene where these marine creatures covered an area of the beach, amid questions and demands for explanation from relevant authorities.
A video circulating on Instagram, attributed to Merbat beach, showed large amounts of small crustaceans piled on the coast, while activists wrote comments requesting a scientific explanation for this phenomenon.
Official Clarification
In response, the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources in Oman quickly issued a clarification via the platform X, stating that the die-off of small crustaceans - including small shrimp or krill - at several beach locations in the Dhofar Governorate is likely due to natural and climatic factors primarily.
The Ministry further explained that the most prominent of these factors are the sudden changes in sea water temperatures and the lack of dissolved oxygen, in addition to the impact of strong sea currents that may push these sensitive creatures towards unsuitable areas for their survival, leading to their die-off and accumulation on the beaches.
What did the field research teams reveal?
The ministry indicated that a team from the Fisheries Wealth Research Center in Dhofar Governorate surveyed several sites where die-offs were recorded and did not observe any signs of environmental pollution or die-off of other marine species, which - according to the statement - suggests that the situation falls within natural phenomena related to fluctuations in the marine environment.
The ministry concluded that these crustaceans are highly sensitive to sudden changes in the physical and chemical conditions of sea water, which makes them more susceptible to such phenomena when disturbances in temperature or oxygen levels or sea current movements occur.
