Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
Each year, sometime around June, Karachi’s beaches become crowded — not just with people, but also seashells, hundreds of thousands of them, spread across the shore in dense and clattering drifts. The sight leaves citizens intrigued, with many wondering if something was wrong. The same thing happened this June, as well.
For the past few days, there has been discussion both online and offline regarding why this phenomenon occurs. Was it climate change or nature’s spectacle?
The science and the fishermen tell a more layered story.
The phenomenon is not new. A Dawn report dated July 17, 2009, noted that large numbers of white and yellow seashells had appeared on Clifton Beach overnight. Another Dawn report, dated May 21, 2016, reported that wave action dislodges shellfish, particularly Venus clams, locally known as “burgar”, from shallow sub-tidal habitats, carrying them onto beaches where they die and leave behind empty shells.
