“I’ve never seen anything like it!”-Hlynur Pétursson, Marine Research Institute of Iceland

15 December 2012, officials in Iceland reporting that tons of valuable herring committed mass suicide.

An estimated hundreds of tons of herring beached themselves over a one square kilometer area (0.62 square miles).  Preliminary investigation found no signs of disease.  A smaller mass suicide of herring, in Iceland, took place last December.

In Santa Cruz County, California, on 11 December 2012, hundreds of squid committed mass suicide.  Even attempts to put them back in the ocean failed, they just beached themselves again. The dead squid were spread out over 19 kilometers (12 miles) of beach, from Aptos to Watsonville.

Scientists said the squid were not full grown, and had just finished feeding (they had full stomachs).  Speculation is that anything from climate change to the accidental eating of poisonous algae is the cause.  Perhaps it was some kind of early warning of the 6.4 and 6.1 magnitude offshore earthquakes that occurred just a few days later?

For many people around the world, squid and herring are important food sources.