Tons of dead fish appear on, then disappear from Norwegian beach
A dog walks among tons of dead herring that washed up on a beach at Kvaenes in northern Norway on New Year's Eve.
January 4th, 2012
11:02 AM ET

Tons of dead fish appear on, then disappear from Norwegian beach

Tons of dead herring that washed up on a Norwegian beach on New Year's Eve are now gone, and no one is sure how they got there or where they went.

Local resident Jan-Petter Jorgensen told Norway's TV2 he went to look at the thousands and thousands of fish after seeing a Facebook posting about them, according to a report on The Foreigner.

Joregensen said it was fortunate the icy cold prevented the mass of dead fish from raising a stink.

“It is 15 degrees below zero today, so the cold means they don’t smell. Nevertheless, the smell will be pretty intense in the long run,” he said, according to The Foreigner report.

Turns out that wasn't a problem. Views and News from Norway reports that as of Tuesday, most of the dead fish were gone, perhaps pushed out to sea by tides and winds. The local mayor said they'll likely sink in the ocean, according to the report.

Why they came to be on the shore remains a mystery.

Jens Christian Holst of the Institute of Marine Research in Norway told Norwegian Broadcasting the herring may have been chased ashore by predators, the Views and News report said.

“In this area, we know there is a lot of (pollock) that graze on (herring),” he said.

Seems like a reasonable explanation.

Of course, on the Web there are always more troubling theories around, including that the deaths could be the first sign the end of the world is coming in 2012, as some believe ancient Mayan prophecy predicts.

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Filed under: Animals • Fish • Norway
soundoff (181 Responses)
  1. Hawaii Five O

    "Great Fisher's of men" , was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this picture.

    January 4, 2012 at 11:06 am | Report abuse |
    • matt

      aww, look at the puppy popped into my mind

      January 4, 2012 at 11:36 am | Report abuse |
  2. Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ

    It's very simple.
    The same aliens who brought the fish decided that they had been eating too much red meat, so they retrieved the fish.

    January 4, 2012 at 11:09 am | Report abuse |
  3. Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ

    "Sebastian saw God that summer in the Encantados."
    –Tennessee Williams, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER

    January 4, 2012 at 11:11 am | Report abuse |
  4. bobcat (in a hat)©

    This story sounds fishy to me.

    January 4, 2012 at 11:13 am | Report abuse |
  5. Andreas Moser

    This is just a warning of what is yet to come in 2012.
    http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/2012-warning/

    January 4, 2012 at 11:13 am | Report abuse |
  6. Hawaii Five O

    @ bobcat (in a hat)© 11:13 post
    @ Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ, Well read, are we? 😉

    January 4, 2012 at 11:17 am | Report abuse |
  7. Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ

    @ Hawaii Five O:
    Love your state.

    January 4, 2012 at 11:25 am | Report abuse |
  8. Hawaii Five O

    @ Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ , And a good sense of taste! 😉 lol

    January 4, 2012 at 11:27 am | Report abuse |
  9. Hawaii Five O

    @ Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ , And a good sense of taste! 😉 lol
    problem posting !!!! Errrr

    January 4, 2012 at 11:29 am | Report abuse |
  10. PJB

    That is most definitely NOT what the Maya predicted. The end of the 4th age is the start of the 5th. That the time of transition be one of major changes is just the perception of what qualifies as major. "Normal" in this day and age is defined by our ability to report every incidence, immediately. Thus, we are more aware of what is going on around us, all the time. The real question is: "What can we do with this knowledge?"

    January 4, 2012 at 11:29 am | Report abuse |
    • bobcat (in a hat)©

      @PJB

      The better question is, What "will" we do with this knowledge?

      January 4, 2012 at 5:28 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ

    Voyons...what can we do with this knowledge...
    I'm receiving a parapsychological image of sushi, but it's wrapped in plastic...

    January 4, 2012 at 11:38 am | Report abuse |
  12. Hawaii Five O

    @ Matt, lol
    @ Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ , Your on a roll today feller! 😉

    January 4, 2012 at 11:42 am | Report abuse |
  13. Joey Isotta-Fraschini ©ℹ

    @ Hawaii Five O:
    It's the two cups of Kona coffee.
    Love Maui.

    January 4, 2012 at 11:46 am | Report abuse |
  14. Hawaii Five O

    When were you there? and did you get to see Kanui Hawaii ?

    January 4, 2012 at 11:51 am | Report abuse |
  15. gung hoe

    @jif and bobcat iah top of the morning to you two.Watch out about eating lox.Someone already gatherd them up for lox factory. LOL

    January 4, 2012 at 11:55 am | Report abuse |
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