By Tim Binnall
Officials in Germany are attempting to get to the bottom of a weird incident in which thousands of dead fish washed up in a town's harbor. The strange event reportedly occurred in the community of Wolgast last week as residents woke up to discover the macabre collection of dead sea creatures floating on the water. All told, the blanket of dead fish covered a whopping 1,600 square feet.
In perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the case, authorities noted that many of the fish appeared to have had their heads cut off and their bladders removed in an almost mechanical fashion. This has led some imaginative observers to speculate that the creatures could have fallen victim to some kind of paranormal event akin to the cattle mutilation phenomenon. While that seems a bit doubtful, officials in the town have yet to offer any possible explanation for the inexplicable event.
A number of different environmental and wildlife departments have been called in to investigate the case and samples of both the dead fish as well as the water were taken by police for testing. Meanwhile, some unlucky town employees were tasked with the unenviable job of removing the mess from the harbor. Fortunately for them, the clean up may not be too arduous as a bevy of birds quickly appeared on the scene to snack on the surprise buffet of free seafood.