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. san jose

    Like Mayan Calender, My calender had only 12 months in 2011...So I had to buy new one.. Mayan did not create a new one as they were vanished many hundred years ago. simple.

    January 4, 2012 at 5:32 pm | Report abuse |
  2. cpc65

    Cthulhu has been set free!

    January 4, 2012 at 5:45 pm | Report abuse |
    • leeintulsa

      lol.. CURSE the thing that should not be..

      January 4, 2012 at 6:29 pm | Report abuse |
  3. tyler

    this is crazy

    January 4, 2012 at 5:45 pm | Report abuse |
  4. tota

    Could be due to cold or lack of oxygen in the serenity where the fish population was there, the fish must have died few days back and washed to shore ... as in similar time scale there is sea foam in England ( Lancashire ), which is also caused by planktons when the die in mass scale. There could be some possibility that both these planktons and fish may have died in same area and washed ashore ...

    January 4, 2012 at 5:49 pm | Report abuse |
  5. pacman357

    I can't believe that with all of those Norwegians around, someone didn't just scoop up the herring and pickle them all!

    January 4, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  6. chevy

    Really?!!! so you guys actually forgot when GW Bush said "Humans and Fish can Co-exist peacefully" we all laughed at him and called him a moron. that guy knew what was coming, he was right. check it out urself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Jcrk6jGfo

    January 4, 2012 at 6:10 pm | Report abuse |
  7. bubba

    SMELLS LIKE.... BANASY BUSH

    January 4, 2012 at 6:32 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Peter

    They committed suicide unable to share a polluted planet with the human species.
    A sort of fish-Masada.

    January 4, 2012 at 6:53 pm | Report abuse |
  9. bobcat (in a hat)©

    This would have been a lot funnier if it had happened in Denmark. Would have had a lot more ways to work with it.

    January 4, 2012 at 6:53 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Mmmmm

    poor herrings thinking tsunami debris were invading aliens and swam ran for high ground...

    January 4, 2012 at 7:03 pm | Report abuse |
  11. leeintulsa

    @mmmmm: tsunami debris.. in Norway?? valient effort.. but, uh.. no..

    January 4, 2012 at 7:12 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Solitaire

    Occupy the beach!

    January 4, 2012 at 7:16 pm | Report abuse |
  13. bobcat (in a hat)©

    @ Solitaire

    With all those fish ? Uh Uh.

    January 4, 2012 at 7:36 pm | Report abuse |
  14. CovertOvert

    Bob's Fish & Chips shack around the corner of that mountain is where they went. Bob worked tirelessly thru the night with a front-end loader. He's now waiting for those tons of potatoes to wash up on shore. Hungry yet?

    January 4, 2012 at 7:54 pm | Report abuse |
  15. eliel

    Norwegian forklores claim eyewitnesess saw a Chuck Norris swim by in theese waters the morning just before this event. The Nowegian police is currently looking everywhere for this thing called a Chuck Norris. If you've seen the thing or have any leading clues. Please contact the Norwegian police imediatley.

    Thank you for your cooperation. Let's bring Justice to the fish together! Peace.

    January 4, 2012 at 7:56 pm | Report abuse |
    • Chubzilla

      The real question is.. How'd that dog get there????

      January 5, 2012 at 8:30 pm | Report abuse |
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