Do you remember that scene from Fargo season 1 when Stavros, along with his Man Friday and son are attacked by fish falling from the sky and onto their car? That scary scene has left many of us with the irrational fear of experiencing something like that. I still shiver at the thought of driving down a road and getting attacked by fish rain.
However, turns out, our fears are not as irrational as we might think - reports have suggested that thousands of fish are falling from the sky in San Francisco, U.S.?Residents across the city are complaining of hearing loud splats on their roofs and finding anchovies.?
For the uninitiated, an anchovy is a small schooling fish usually found in marine waters, definitely not up in the clouds.?
Did you also know it is common for fish, frogs and worms to be picked up by a natural force and dropped in a completely different location? This usually happens when a rare storm surges and leads to these organisms falling on people like they are raining from the sky.?
However, what San Francisco is facing is due to seabirds eating a little too much than they can digest.?
The anchovy population has exploded in their San Francisco Bay Area habitat patrolled by large birds like pelicans and seagulls who are now too full to feast on another generous mouthful of the overabundant silver fish.?
So, as the birds continue to catch more anchovies, they realise?mid-flight that swallowing them may not be a good idea and release the tiny fish at random places, according to a report by SFGate.?
Jim Ervin, a retired laboratory analyst at San Jose¡¯s Environmental Services Department recorded the anomalous surge in anchovy populations in a recent blog post.
¡°The monthly totals in April and May were 29 and 52, respectively.?The total number leapt to over 2,600 for the June trawls. This is the second-highest monthly total we have ever seen.¡±?
This might also have to do with a natural oceanic process known as upwelling. It is characterised by cold, nutrient-rich water rising from depths to replace warmer water at the surface.?
"The water temperatures right now do appear to be colder than normal, and this has provided some much-needed food for animals such as anchovies, seabirds and marine mammals," says Adam Ratner, associate director of conservation education at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.?
For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.?