Thousands of Dead Fish Along Lakefront

Something's fishy along the Chicago lakefront.

Thousands of dead gizzard shad have been spotted in Chicago harbors, the Sun-Times reports. The shad, members of the herring family, appear to have frozen in the ice of the habors. They're floating in open patches of water and are being gulped down by Canada geese and mallard ducks.

If it sounds familiar, it should. This comes about a week after the strange mass deaths of birds and fish in Arkansas.

The major die-off in Chicago was first spotted by a local fisherman who noticed the geese and mallards eating dying shad in DuSable and Diversey harbors, according to the Sun-Times.

A biologist said the cause could be Chicago's early onset of thick ice in December. Other species of fish don't seem to be affected.

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