The appearance of dozens of chunks of large fish along Malta’s southern coast in the week before Christmas remains so far unexplained.

On 23 December an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) patrol boat and helicopter had been called out to investigate reports of bodies floating in the sea off Marsascala, which turned out to be nothing but large chunks of tuna, while Birzebbuga’s Pretty Bay was littered with large pieces of rotting fish on Christmas morning.

Some 20 to 30 pieces had been washed ashore by the previous night’s storms that had battered Malta’s shores, and were left rotting in the bright sunlight of Christmas morning.

The putrid mess, and accompanying health hazard, was cleaned up by the local council on Boxing Day in an onerous operation, explained Birzebbuga local councillor Tony Roberts. The team given the gruelling job, led by George Baldacchino, had to be equipped with masks lest they were overcome by the foul stench.

While the council, which had received numerous complaints about the smell from residents, still has no explanation regarding the origin of the mess, the council has reported the incident to all the relevant authorities, including the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

With an official explanation still pending, fishermen in the area point to a local fish farm operation for culpability, saying tuna off-cuts had been cast overboard and left to float in the open sea instead of being disposed of properly.

If human error or callousness is indeed to blame, the AFM would certainly have cause for grievance, considering the manpower and fuel expended when an AFM patrol boat and helicopter were called out on a fruitless search mission after receiving reports of bodies floating off Zonqor Point, Marsascala.

The AFM were dispatched to the area and a detailed search operation was undertaken. Having searched throughout the morning without results, an AFM helicopter joined the patrol boat in order to close off the search area and confirm the patrol boat’s negative findings.