Earlier this year, up to 100,000 fish washed up dead on the shores of the Arkansas River. In the same week, 5,000 birds inexplicably fell from the sky in the same area. Since the reports were widely and breathlessly publicized before anyone knew anything about them, the internet sarcastically (we hope) took it to mean that the apocalypse was forthcoming. Later, scientists posited that some of what had occurred was probably natural. "They happen in nature all the time," wrote The Washington Post's Darryl Fears, summarizing experts opinion on the odd recent phenomenon.

Hopefully the same explanation will be reached when naturalists sort out why a reported 1,000,000+ fish (anchovies, sardines and mackerel) floated lifeless to the surface in King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, Calif. "There’s basically fish everywhere you go in the harbor," said the harbor's assistant manager, Jason McMullin, who explained to the Los Angeles Times that "there were reports that a red tide may have driven the fish into the harbor in massive numbers where they died because of limited oxygen."

Video from KTLA News is below:

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Erik Hayden