Sludge drifts away just as quickly as it arrived

DUBAI // Brown sludge that washed up on one of Dubai's public beaches on Friday had almost entirely dispersed by yesterday.

The slick appeared in the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club's (DOSC) marina and along the length of the open public beach next to it.

But by yesterday morning, however, the water was back to normal.

"It's a lot better than yesterday," said Bret Trevethan, the acting general manager of DOSC. "The current did a great job of getting it out."

He said the pollution was most likely to have come from one of four storm water drains that open into the sea at the mouth of DOSC's harbour.

"There is still a slightly murky area in the marina close to the mouth but it is nowhere near as bad as yesterday," he said.

The pollution had not affected the fish in the marina. "As of this morning, I saw a few swimming around.

"We're quiet lucky it moved out as quickly as it had and it doesn't seem to have affected its natural habitat."

Four years ago, beaches along the same stretch were closed after several lorry drivers dumped raw sewage in the storm water drainage pipes in Al Quoz, to avoid long queues at the sewage treatment plant in Al Aweer.