Millennial Mysteries: Mass Deaths of Fish in Japan

Image Source: Rocket News.

There are reports of several tonnes of dead sardines washing into the port of Ohara in Isumi City, Japan. The city is in Chiba prefecture, which is part of the Greater Tokyo area, and not too far from Fukushima. Presumably the nuclear crisis there is the cause of this fish kill. Other possibilities include oxygen shortages in the water, storms, sea algae creating toxins in the water, and so on. But those explanations are not stopping people from worrying that this event is an ill omen and portends another earthquake. This incident started on 3 June 2012, and is still continuing (see reports here and here). From Rocket News (Hat tip: ENE News):

[A]t the fishing port of Ohara (pronounced Oh-hara) in Isumi City of Chiba Prefecture ... [t]here are tons and tons of dead sardines washing up on the shore. ... According to the news, the dead fish started washing up around noon of June 3rd, and as of early afternoon on June 4th, the situation still remained pretty much out of control. The amount of dead sardines that has washed up is thought to total several dozen metrics tons. ... [T]he port looks completely filled with fish – it almost looks like a carpet of sardines. It doesn’t seem likely that any fishing boats will be setting sail from this port soon. There are also, of course, the usual posts and comments on the internet on how this could be an omen, a sign of a coming great natural disaster.

For my previous posts on dead fish and birds, see here, here, here, here, here and, most recently, here. See general links below.

Image Source: Rocket News.

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