• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Krill, locally known as “hipon”, swarmed the beachfront of Sipalay City in Negros Occidental for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, Oct. 14 turning sections of the shoreline pink and drawing residents who gathered to catch them.
Tiny shrimp-like crustaceans covered more than 100 meters of the shoreline, with large numbers appearing early in the morning.
Dionilo Bogtae, staff member of the Sipalay City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the shrimp swarm typically emerges around 3 a.m. during low tide and is carried back toward the shore as the tide rises.
“The phenomenon has been observed in previous years, but the volume of shrimp this year has been unusually large,” he added.
He said tiny shrimp appear along the beachfront every morning, although the local government has yet to determine the scientific explanation for the unusual occurrence.
Residents have taken advantage of the phenomenon by gathering along the shoreline to catch tiny shrimp.
Bogtae said the city could not yet estimate how many tons of tiny shrimp had appeared.
He added that these shrimp-like crustaceans are also eaten by tuna, which feed on them along the coastal waters. | GPB
