HAKODATE, Japan: On December 8, officials said that thousands of tons of dead sardines have washed up on a beach near Hakodate in Hokkaido, northern Japan, for unknown reasons.
The sardines and some mackerel washed ashore and created a sliver blanket along a stretch of beach about a kilometer (0.6 mile) long, officials added.
Locals said they had never seen anything like it before, and some gathered to sell or eat the fish.
However, the local government urged residents not to eat the dead fish.
Takashi Fujioka, researcher at the Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute, said he has previously heard of similar phenomena, but it was his first time witnessing it.
The fish may have been chased by larger fish, become exhausted due to a lack of oxygen while moving in a densely packed school, and were washed up by the waves, he added, stressing the decomposing fish could lower oxygen levels in the water and affect the marine environment.
“We do not know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend eating them,” Fujioka said.
