The Mediterranean Sea lost metres from its shoreline over the last couple of days – and while it’s probably due to a low tide, many are speculating.

This weekend, photos emerged from around Malta of beaches having new layers of exposed rock and shore, with Golden Bay ending up growing by a whopping seven metres.

Meanwhile, some canals in Venice appeared to have completely dried up, with small boats ending up deserted among smaller puddles.

Technically, this is by far not the first time something of this sort has happened. After all, tides are a very real and regular thing all over the world, and an ongoing atmospheric pressure over the region coupled with our planet’s current position when compared to the moon and the sun would usually lead to sights like these around this time of the year.

But even people who have seen this happening time and time again have said what they’ve seen in the last three days is quite rare as far as its extent goes – and the explanations they’ve offered have also differed quite drastically.

In one instance, international community The Watchmen’s Earth & Space Connection said “the truth needs to be told”, connecting the phenomenon to the recent slew of powerful earthquakes which have allegedly caused “cracks in the seas’ floors”.

“If we continue to see this then it means the Mediterranean Sea floor is dropping,” the America-based page wrote yesterday morning.

“Now we just need to see how it plays out. I can’t predict the exact magnitude or exact time, but we need to be alert this week.”

Meanwhile, as more and more photos emerge from Malta’s exposed rocky and sandy beaches, there seems to be one consensus: this has happened before, but never to this extent.

What do you make of this? Have you ever seen anything like it?