A small Japanese town has a big mess that could bankrupt it … a beached whale and 400 tonnes of dead, stinking sardines

A small town in northern Japan that has been suddenly beset by beached sea life has taken matters into its own hands after discovering the cost of cleaning up its normally pristine coastline would effectively bankrupt the community – but has created a new problem for itself in the process.

Since the end of January, an estimated 400 tonnes of sardines have washed up on the shores of the town of Yokohama, in Aomori Prefecture.

But the problem of dealing with the decaying creatures was significantly worsened when a local resident discovered the 1-tonne carcass of a whale that had drifted onto the beach.

The creature has been identified as a Stejneger’s beaked whale, pods of which are occasionally to be found in Mutsu Bay, an official of the Yokohama town hall said. 

But no one can remember the last time one was found dead on the beach. Similarly, there are no records of hundreds of tonnes of sardines washing ashore in the region.

“It has been very sudden,” said Naomi Akita, from the Yokohama Municipal Government.

“We have not heard of this happening before and we can only guess that it is because it has been so unusually cold this winter.”