TOKYO — Thousands of tons of lifeless sardines have washed up on a seashore in northern Japan for unknown causes, officers mentioned Friday.
The sardines and a few mackerel washed ashore in Hakodate on Japan’s northernmost predominant island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning, making a sliver blanket alongside a stretch of seashore a few kilometer (0.6 mile) lengthy.
Local residents mentioned they’ve by no means seen something prefer it. Some gathered the fish to promote or eat.
The city, in a discover posted on its web site, urged residents to not devour the fish.
Takashi Fujioka, a Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute researcher, mentioned he has heard of comparable phenomena earlier than, however it was his first time to see it.
He mentioned the fish might have been chased by bigger fish, turn out to be exhausted resulting from a scarcity of oxygen whereas shifting in a densely packed college, and had been washed up by the waves. The fish additionally might have abruptly entered chilly waters throughout their migration, he mentioned.
The decomposing fish may decrease oxygen ranges within the water and have an effect on the marine atmosphere, he mentioned.
“We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend” consuming them, Fujioka mentioned.
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Associated Press author Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.
