Massive fish death in Costa Rican beach

Costa Rica: The sudden death of thousands of fishes in Playa Lagarto, northwest of Costa Rica, a national tourist zone, is the object of investigations by the National Fishing and Aquaculture.

Luis Dobles, its executive president, told the press that by now, the causes of the phenomenon cannot be confirmed, though it was seen by fishermen and other people last Sunday.

Close to the shore, there were a lot of poisoned fishes and witnesses told reporters there had been an explosion in front of Playa Lagarto. For others, the cause was a spill of a chemical substance by ships, and others attribute the facts to so-called "red tide", which is the proliferation of algae with contaminant effects.

Close to the place of the accident there is a community of 1,500 inhabitants, dedicated to fishing.

San Jose, Prensa Latina