Beachgoers stumbled upon hundreds of dead stingrays scattered across the sands of Oman’s Seeb Beach. It was all captured on video giving rise to public outcry especially on social media as people voiced their shock and anger towards the fishermen who keep dumping stingrays on the beach. This was not the first time that dead stingrays were found on Oman’s shores, just last year and in 2018, dozens were discovered across Al Hail Beach.
When it comes to the fishermen, what happens is that the stingrays would get caught up in their nets, and rather than releasing them back in the water, they end up throwing them onto the shore. “We dump the stingray fish because it is a waste of time trying to sell them,” Omani fisherman, Salim Amri, said to The National. The stingray is considered edible but Omanis are convinced that it would be dangerous to eat them as they believe that the poison in their tail would spread to the rest of their body. The fear even expands to the fishermen who are afraid of merely touching the stingrays because of their poison.
If this phenomenon persists, the number of stingrays in Omani’s waters will die down and that is why Omani waste experts have begun to speak up and call out for a reform that includes educating the fishermen about stingrays, waste management, and food preservation. It’s not just the fishermen that will need this change in mindset as Mr. Al Shamsi, an Omani waste expert said that even Omani residents need to be made aware of the consequences and importance of these unique sea creatures.