50 dead sharks found off Fiji

Around 50 baby hammerhead sharks were found dead along the Nukulau island beachfront in Fiji over the weekend, media reports said Monday.

The Great Fiji Shark Count will work with the ministry of fisheries to ascertain how the incident occurred, Xinhua reported citing the Fiji Times.

Nanise Ledua, a member of the Great Fiji Shark Count, said a team would go to Nukulau island to gather samples of the dead sharks and determine the cause of their deaths.

Ledua said the "toxic spill theory" was not possible as other species of fish and other marine creatures were not affected. The other possibility was the change in water temperature, but this could not be confirmed.

"We are assuming that maybe because the baby sharks were always in shallow waters, they could have suffocated due to the change in water temperature," Ledua was quoted as saying.

She said they have assumed that it was not a failed attempt at shark fishing as the hammerhead sharks still had their dorsal fins.