Manta Ray mystery in Gaza: 220 wash up dead on beach
Palestinian fishermen collect several Manta Ray fish that were washed up on the beach in Gaza City on February 27, 2013.
The mysterious appearance of 220 mangled dead manta rays in Gaza sounds like it's straight out of an Agatha Christie crime novel: Who, or what, is killing all these manta rays? "Why DID dozens of bloodied sea creatures wash up on Gaza beach?" asked Britain's Daily Mail. Miss Marple, get on it.
Their sudden wash-up on a Gaza City beach has baffled city residents, according to AOL Travel. That said, locals didn't just stand around and stroke their chins — "fisherman made the most of the opportunity, and carted them off to market," said the report.
One local fisherman said it's the first time he's seen the manta rays — one of the world's largest existing fish — in six years, said the Daily Mail.
No one seemed to have any clue how they got there or why their fins were all bloody and messed up, but for the locals, they were still a catch.
"We used to get them from Egypt and bring them through the tunnels, which was difficult because we had to cut the fish in two and it was very expensive," one fisherman told SKY, said AOL.
"But today," he said, "God provides them for us here."
That's appropriate in a part of the world believed to have seen manna from heaven — it's just mantas this time.
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