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Thousands of tons of dead sardines have washed onto a beach in Japan for unknown reasons, officials said Friday.

<div><div><div><p><span><strong>TOKYO (NEWSnet/AP)</strong> — Thousands of tons of dead sardines have washed onto a beach in Japan for unknown reasons, officials said Friday.</span></p></div></div>
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<div><div><p><span>The sardines and some mackerel washed ashore in Hakodate on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning, creating a sliver blanket along a stretch of beach about a half-mile long.</span></p></div></div>
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<div><div><p><span>Local residents said they have never seen anything like it. Some gathered the fish to sell or eat.</span></p></div></div>

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<div><div><p><span>Takashi Fujioka, a researcher at Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute, said he has learned of similar phenomena, but it is the first time he has witnessed it.</span></p></div></div>
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<div><div><p><span>Fujioka said the fish may have been chased by larger fish, become exhausted due to a lack of oxygen while moving in a densely packed school, and were carried to shore by the waves. The fish also may have entered cold water suddenly during<span>  </span>migration, he said.</span></p></div></div>
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<div><div><p><span>The decomposing fish could lower oxygen level in the water and affect the marine environment, he said.</span></p></div></div>

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<div><div><p><span>“We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend” eating them, Fujioka said.</span></p></div></div>
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