A visitor to west Dorset said she was ‘blown away’ by the sight of ‘thousands of dead fish’ that had washed up on the beach.
Zena Durrant was visiting Hive Beach from Misterton in Somerset with her grandchildren Pheobe, 11 and Sampson, 8, when they came across the phenomenon.
She described the shoreline as appearing 'silver' when she visited the beach in Burton Bradstock yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, August, 28).
Zena said: “It was quite phenomenal; there they were scattered across the beach as far as we could see.
“My granddaughter came running up to me and said, ‘where has the beach gone.’ She then pointed at all the silver on the shoreline. I went down with her and was blown away by it – It’s quite a rarity to see.”
The family were initially visiting to enjoy a spot of beach combing and metal detecting, with Zena joking that all they found was three rusty nails and bottle tops.
READ MORE: 'Thousands of dead fish' wash up on Dorset beach
In images supplied by Zena, beachgoers can be seen inspecting the fish which are scattered across the shoreline, whilst others carefully moved around them in order to gain access to and from the sea.
It is understood that the fish, which were described as sprats or whitebait, had been chased onto Hive Beach by larger predator fish, like mackerel which is a natural phenomenon that occurs every year.
A spokesperson for Dorset Wildlife Trust said: “This is a natural phenomenon which happens as a result of fish being chased by shoals of mackerel.”
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