Mysterious Mass Death: Thousands of Dead Sardines Blanket Japanese Beaches

Thousands of tons of dead sardines and mackerels have washed up on a beach in Hakodate, Hokkaido, northern Japan, for unknown reasons. Local residents, who have never seen anything like it before, gathered the fish to sell or eat, despite warnings from officials not to consume them. Researchers speculate that the fish may have been chased by larger fish, exhausted due to a lack of oxygen, or suddenly entered cold waters during migration. The decomposing fish could lower oxygen levels in the water and impact the marine environment.