Thousands of small fishes jumped above water near a Cheung Chau beach on Mid-Autumn Festival, according to a video uploaded to Facebook.
The video uploaded to the
Facebook group @mycheungchau last night showed thousands of small fishes jumping above waters, and some even popped onto the beach.
People who were enjoying the moonlight and playing with lanterns shouted with excitement. Some even caught the fishes with their bare hands and put them into their bags.
Lee Kwai-chun, District Councilor of Cheung Chau North, said that there are occasionally sardines jumping ashore in Cheung Chau, mainly when affected by the weather.
"On days with heavy rain, sardines that cannot adapt to the less salty seawater may jump ashore in groups," Lee said.
She also speculated that the full moon may have triggered the phenomenon, saying sardines may have wanted to “chase the light.”
Sardine is a kind of silver small pelagic fish commonly seen along the coast. It has clustered migratory habits and a strong tendency to light.
It feeds on diatoms and small crustaceans, mainly distributed in southern India, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the coast of southern China.
