Thousands of dead fish have washed up on a beach – and no one knows why
Thousands of dead anchovies and sardines have mysteriously washed up on a beach in South America.
The fish suddenly covered the shores of Coliumo beach near Concepcion, in the Biobio region of Chile.
Environmental officials are now investigating what caused the rare phenomenon, reported by local media on Saturday.
They are understood to be looking into the water quality in the region.
Photographs taken on Sunday showed the beach turned silver by the vast number of dead fish on the shoreline.
A clean-up operation to remove the dead fish is now under way.
It’s reportedly not the first time shoals of dead fish have washed up on beaches in this part of Chile.
Similar incidents reported last year were explained by a ‘low amount of oxygen in the water, which ends up pushing the species towards the sand’.
In April last year, officials in Ghana reported a similar incident when hundreds of dolphins and fish washed up on beaches in Accra.
Laboratory samples were taken from the animals and initial findings pointed to a combination of ‘environmental’ and ‘stress factors’.
Closer to home, thousands of small bait washed up on Chesil Beach in Dorset in October last year.
The Environment Agency conducted an investigation and concluded the incident was a ‘natural event likely to be a larger species of fish chasing smaller fish that in turn end up on the beach’.
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