"There were 13 dead dolphins, a shark, a whale and some tuna that had been caught in the net which some fisherman irresponsibly just dumped in the sea," said tourist Dinos Panidis who helped pull up the net.

Island authorities believe the net was abandoned by Turkish fishermen on Thursday and have launched an investigation.

Driftnets, also known as "walls of death" because of their size and their indiscriminate catch of small and large fish, have been banned by the European Union.