Workers clear up dead herring from the shores of Kolgrafafjordur in western Iceland on Tuesday.Brynjar Gauti/The Associated Press
A fishy predicament is baffling Iceland, where millions of dollars worth of dead herring have been found in a small fjord for the second time in two months.
Between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of herring died in the fjord in western Iceland in December. Some experts believe it was due to a lack of oxygen in the inlet, possibly caused by a landfill and bridge constructed in 2004. But meteorologist Einar Sveinbjornsson said the herring died from sudden cooling caused by relentless northerly winds.
A similar amount of fish may have died this time, according to Iceland Review Online.
School children in a nearby village collected about 25 tonnes of the dead herring Tuesday for sale as animal fodder. They raised the equivalent of $1,800 for sports and other school activities, Iceland's Morgunbladid newspaper reported.
The government agreed Tuesday to new funding to monitor the situation.
Thousands of dead herring were discovered washed up on a north Norwegian beach in January, the Daily Mail reported, prompting doomsday predictors to hail it as another sign the world is set to end.