Washed-up shellfish attract visitors to Chenang beach

LANGKAWI: The transition phase of the monsoon is a blessing in disguise for the islanders living around the Chenang Beach, a popular beach destination on Langkawi Island.

Over the past two days, heavy storms and strong waves had brought various types of shellfish such as ‘siput kabung’ (a type of mussels) and ‘siput paha ayam’ (pen shell) onto the beach.

Nearby residents thronged the beach with friends and families in tow, carrying baskets, pails and plastic bags to collect the washed-up shellfish.

Mohamad Fitri Azizan, 38, from Ulu Melaka decided to join the party today with his family after getting to know about it via social media.

“I read about the shellfish being washed up on the Chenang Beach on Facebook yesterday. Strong winds and storms that occurred in Langkawi may have caused the shellfish to be carried by strong currents to land on this beach,” he told Bernama here today.

Mohamad Fitri said he and his wife had been collecting the shellfish since 10.30 am, filling their pail almost to the brim, which they would use to make mussels fritters, among others.

Meanwhile, Langkawi District Civil Defence Force Officer, Captain Ahmad Shahfikri Darus said the shellfish were first detected on the beach near the lifeguard tower on Thursday evening following a storm and strong waves.

He said the public started to flock to the beach since early morning yesterday to collect the shellfish with many more visitors today.

The Langkawi District Civil Defence Force lifeguards were also on standby to ensure visitors’ safety, he added.

A Bernama check today found that employees of a solid waste management company were also at the location to carry out cleaning tasks by collecting rotten shellfish.

-- BERNAMA