A number of blue sea slugs washed up on Warner beach on Tuesday, 26 August, an unusual occurrence on KZN shores.
A fisherman who has been fishing in the area for more than 50 years and who did not want to be named, said he had never seen anything like it and blamed the cold water of last week as a possible cause.
A lot of full cuttlefish were also reportedly seen washing up on North Coast beaches and Ansteys Beach, along with the slugs and bluebottles.
The blue sea slug feeds almost exclusively on the tentacles of bluebottles.
The Sun investigated various Toti beaches, but no evidence of the sea slugs could be found.
“We have not as yet received the KZN water temperature profiles for the past two weeks, which will give us accurate information as to whether there was a sudden, drastic drop in water temperature,” said Ann Kunz of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) based at Ushaka Marine World. “Our scientists are still investigating several variables and will hopefully have more information early next week.”
