"We sure do find some strange stuff on the beach every now and then, but I can't say I have ever seen dead camels or horses washing up," an Acre fisherman told Haaretz yesterday. His colleagues from Herzliya and Tel Aviv - as well as many unsuspecting bathers - can say exactly that, after several carcasses washed up on beaches in those cities within the space of a few hours. And that may be only the tip of the iceberg.

The arrival of the bodies - for which authorities can offer no definite explanation - began with a horse cadaver on Herzliya's Boats Beach. Passersby called emergency services, after they confused the dead animal for a human body. The paramedics left the scene after establishing that the carrion had washed up after many days at sea.

"We went down to the beach with a resuscitation cart and everything, only to find a bloated, headless dead horse," Ofer Raff from the Magen David Adom emergency services said. "We were just getting ready to leave when we heard the report that another carcass had been found in a location north of us."