Bangladesh's sea snail epidemic

By Moazzem Hossain BBC correspondent in Dhaka

Marine scientists in Bangladesh are trying to find out what is killing millions of sea snails in the Bay of Bengal.

Hundreds of tonnes of dead sea snails have piled up along a 30-km stretch of beach near the coastal town of Cox's Bazar.

They are already posing a serious environmental hazard to the town and have brought misery to its tourism industry.

This is the third such outbreak in the Bay of Bengal in the last five years.

Previous epidemics wiped out the bay's entire population of tortoises as well as most coral life around Saint Martin island.

Stench

Cox's Bazar is Bangladesh's most important tourist destination, attracting nearly 50,000 local and foreign tourists every year.

The small tourist resort boasts a 70-km stretch of sand believed to be the world's longest uninterrupted beach.

Since the outbreak began about two weeks ago, waves have washed up hundreds of tonnes of dead snails, creating an unbearable stench along the shore.

Although there are more then 300 species of sea snails in the bay, scientists say only the Epitonium species has fallen victim to this epidemic.

The director general of the Bangladesh Fish Research Institute, Dr MA Majid, dismissed the idea that pollution had triggered the epidemic.

Dr Majid said, if that was the reason, other species of snail would have been affected.

Experts say marine life in Bangladesh is affected by the enormous discharge of water carried through a vast network of rivers that drain a major part of the subcontinent.

Many of these rivers carry industrial and municipal waste as well as the residues of agro-chemicals which lead to pollution of the coastal waters.