Watch: Thousands of dead fish washed ashore in Japan, locals bewildered

As a result of the bewildering event, the beach got covered in a silver blanket, stretching for about a kilometre in length.

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore in Hakodate on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning. The incident shocked locals who confessed to have never seen anything like it.

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore in Hakodate on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning. (X(formerly Twitter))

Videos of the incident were shared on X(formerly Twitter). According to PTI, the fish were mainly sardines and some mackerel. As a result of the bewildering event, the beach was covered in a silver blanket, stretching for about a kilometre in length. Some locals began collecting and selling the fish. Officials then issued a warning to people to not consume the fish.

According to a report by AP, Takashi Fujioka, a Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute researcher, weighed in on the probable causes behind the incident. Fujioka said the fish may have been chased by a large predator due to which they got exhausted amid a lack of oxygen and eventually got washed ashore.

On the matter of consuming the fish, Fujioka said: “We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend” eating them.

Meanwhile, conspiracy theories are also being discussed on social media. Some netizens have linked it to the release of treated wastewater from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. Japan's decision to discharge the wastewater in October angered its neighbours including China. China imposed a ban on all seafood imports from Japan. Later, Russia also put restrictions on the import of fish and seafood from the island nation.

However, Japan backed its move of releasing the treated radioactive water as "safe".