Yesterday, 80 pufferfish washed ashore at Long Beach in Simon’s Town, causing something of a fish-frenzy confusion.
Also read: Unusual amount of puffer fish wash ashore at Long Beach, Simon’s Town
Today, the City of Cape Town announced that another 116 pufferfish have also washed up along the False Bay coastline, with Muizenberg beach among them.
While The City continues to collect and bag the fish, it has also warned the public not to handle the beached pufferfish.
“Residents and visitors are reminded not to handle the puffer fish. Those walking their dogs should ensure that their pets do not come in contact with the fish either as it carries the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin and should not be consumed,” said The City said.
“The City will keep on monitoring the beaches in the Far South in the coming days and will remove the fish, should more wash ashore,” the statement added.
Didn’t this happen last year too?
Some Capetonians might recall that a year ago around the same time in March, there was another mysterious amount of puffers washing up on similar shorelines.
Last year’s batch saw hoards of dead, ‘evil eye’ pufferfish found along the False Bay coastline, Muizenberg and Fish Hoek beaches. The City reported then that it had removed around 70 bags of the batch.
It was speculated then that red tides, or algal blooms could’ve been responsible, however, this was ruled out as a cause then as News24 reminds us.
The City has said that the cause for this year’s beaching is currently unknown.
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Picture: Unsplash