Norwegian beach carpeted with 20 tons of herring

OSLO, Norway -- Tens of thousands of dead herring carpeted a stretch of coast in northern Norway -- and then disappeared again.

The fish appeared on New Year's Eve, and it was speculated that predators might have driven a huge school ashore or the fish could have been washed onto the beach by a powerful storm that hit Norway on Christmas Day.

Jens Christian Holst of Norway's Institute of Marine Research says a combination of several factors was the likely explanation.

Herring is traditionally eaten for good luck on New Year's Eve in some cultures, including by many Scandinavians.

As the new year dawned, locals started pondering how to clean up the estimated 20 tons of dead fish on the beach in Kvaenes, near Tromsoe, north of the Arctic Circle, before it decayed. But before they could start, the fish disappeared.

Holst said Tuesday the herrings have likely washed back into the North Sea.

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_19665052