With a ‘graveyard of fish’ rumored to have emerged at the seabed off a central Vietnamese province, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday had some professional divers to shed light on the hearsay.

Dead fish and aquatic creatures are said to lie in piles at the bottom of the sea in Nhan Trach Commune, Bo Trach District in Quang Binh Province, and another rumor has it that some kind of white powder was also spotted there.               

However video clips filmed by two divers under Tuoi Tre’s request show no bodies of dead fish or any living creatures at the location.

The divers, Pham Van Hoan and Truong Do, are the only two who accepted to help a Tuoi Tre correspondent with the filming, using a waterproof camera.

Even though they agreed to help, the divers were quite worried, they admitted.

“It has been half a month since local fishermen and divers stopped their operations for fear of being affected by potential contaminations,” Do explained.   

Hoan and Do thus refused to let the Tuoi Tre reporter accompany them during the dive, saying it was not safe for the non-professionals.

No dead or living fish

The first location the divers inspected was a sea area some two nautical miles off the commune’s centre, which according to the rumor was previously packed with a great variety of dead fish and shrimps.

The place, which is named ‘Ran,’ is a coral reef situated about ten meters beneath the water surface and also a primary fishery of local residents.

The divers filmed an area of nearly 500 square meters under the sea, eventually finding no such dead creatures. The area is however heavily covered with mud.

While there is no such thing as a ‘graveyard of fish,’ there is no living fish at the area either, but several shells of dead snails, according to the video.

The diving team then moved on to the second location, which was situated about one nautical mile from the first one.

According the Do, the place is called ‘Ben Ca,’ which is often rich in fish, shrimps, sea snails and other aquatic animals and a favorite spot of local fishermen for daily fishing.

The divers, this time more familiar with the waterproof camera Tuoi Tre gave them, took the second dive into area some 15 meters below the surface.

The recorded footage showed that the water was clearer than in the first location, but hardly any living fish or shrimp was found. Several corals have turned into a darker color, whose branches broke apart upon being touched.

Do asserted that the location was previously filled with many types of fish, which can even be observed from above the surface.

“When you are underwater, you can easily see some fish swimming in front of your face,” Do continue.

In the meantime, Hoan was disappointed as  he and his partner could not find as many fish as expected despite investigating a wide area of sea. “The sea is actually dying,” he repeatedly said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!