Fish freeze in Norwegian bay

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation(NRK) has published some striking photos of water off the coast of Lovund, a small island off of Norway.

Though it was “only” -7.8°C, a sharp eastern wind was enough to freeze a large quantity of fish in place.

The translation tools used to understand NRK’s article don’t exactly remove all language barriers, but it seems that Aril Slotte of Havforskningsinstituttet, a marine research institute, believes that the fish might have been chased by a predator, and that’s why there were so many grouped together that closely.

Fish can be seen frozen in a school formation. Photo: Hermann Mindrum via NRK
Fish can be seen frozen in a school formation. Photo: Hermann Mindrum via NRK

Ingolf Kristiansen, who happened upon the scene, said that because the ice was still frozen, no birds were enjoying an easy lunch.

A moose was also frozen in the lake. Photo: Inger Sjoberg via NRK
A moose was also frozen in the lake. Photo: Inger Sjoberg via NRK

This is not the first instance of an animal being caught frozen in a Norweigian body of water. Last week, Inger Sjøberg, came across a moose stuck and frozen in Kosmo Lake. Poor guy. The NRK reports that it is the fourth most common cause of death for moose (also known as European elk) after hunting, traffic, and bears.