PERNEM: A rare phenomenon of hundreds of sardines leaping onto the Keri-Tiracol beach was seen by people and fishermen on Wednesday. People immediately descended to catch the fish and a few fishermen also turned up with their boat to catch the fish which was right on the shore, much to their glee. The people from various parts of Pernem rush to the site at Keri beach and literally had a feast on the God-send mighty harvest of fish.
“This is a rare phenomenon. It happens due to sudden change in temperature. Sardines are mostly found on the surface of the water and to avoid this change in temperatures they come to the shallow water,” Dr Baban Ingole, retired scientist CSIR-NIO stated.
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“Another reason could be that the sardines are looking for food. There is a churning in the sea and due to this churning the nutrient rich waterwith thestrongwind comes to the shore. This happens near the shore. Usually sardines are found in deeper waters,” Dr Ingole explained.
Fisherman too have seen this phenomenon occurring at many places at Goa in the past. They agreed that this is not a common phenomenon and occurs rarely at many places across the states. Often it happens at the mouth of rivers.
“This is a natural phenomenon. This mostly happens where the river meets the sea. The fish come in large shoals and enter the river when there is reverse movement of water. The fish do not realise that they are heading for the shore,” Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott President Agnelo Rodrigues stated.
“This occurrence of fish leaping onto the beach or the coastline has been seen in Banastarim, Borim and other beaches. But this is a rare phenomenon. Sometimes it happens due to the sound of the engines of the trawlers,” he contended.
