Scientists stumped as huge amount of dead sardines wash up on South Africa coast

Scientists are investigating the death of masses of sardines along the coast of South Africa.A huge amount of the fish have washed up dead or dying along parts of the country's west and south coast.The mass mortality of sardines this month has so far stumped the country's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, though scientists have come to at least one conclusion: it is the first time that the herpes virus - pilchard herpesvirus, or PHV - has been identified in sardines off South Africa.PHV, which was linked to two mass sardine mortality events in Australia in the 1990s, can cause inflammation and thickening of sardines’ gills, which interferes with their oxygen uptake, according to the South African environment department.A catch of sardines pictured at the Hout Bay Harbo