Wave of dead sea creatures hits Chile’s beaches

View of thousands of clams beached on the shores of Chiloe Island, some 1000 km south of Santiago, on May 01 2016. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Friday decreed the region of Los Lagos, in southern Chile a disaster area, due to the appearance of a red tide that has poisoned thousands of shelfish along the coast. / AFP PHOTO / Alvaro Vidal

SANTIAGO: Heaps of dead whales, salmon and sardines blamed on the El Nino freak weather phenomenon have clogged Chile’s Pacific beaches in recent months.

Last year, scientists were shocked when more than 300 whales turned up dead on remote bays of the southern coast. It was the first in a series of grim finds.