Redondo Beach residents, in Southern California, awoke yesterday to find an estimated 1 million dead anchovies floating in the marina.
It has caused a stinking mess for marine authorities, and a floating feast for pelicans and other marine life. A Fish and Game spokesman at the scene suggested it is a natural event, with the sardines apparently depleting the water of oxygen and suffocated.
Water tests are also being conducted to rule out the algal bloom cycle known as a red tide.