Biggest "red tide bloom" in history kills hundreds of tons of marine life in Chile

Earlier this year hundreds of sea lions washed up dead in Chile: El-Niño was blamed.

Last summer thousands of sea birds were found dead on beaches in Chile a week after 37 dead whales washed ashore.

Last winter more than 300 whales were found washed up in a remote inlet in Patagonia in southern Chile in one of the largest die-offs on record, researchers said. "It was an apocalyptic sight."

Now the region of Los Lagos, Chile is currently affected by a the biggest "red tide" in its history. The algae bloom has already killed hundreds tons of fish and now millions of mollusks are covering the beach.

The red tide - an algal bloom that turns the sea water red - is a common, naturally recurring phenomenon in southern Chile, though the extent of the current outbreak is unprecedented. Scientists point to an unusually strong El Niño weather pattern this year as a key factor...

"What we are having here is a silent catastrophe, one that affects a lot of people and a vast territory," said Leonardo de la Prida Sanhueza, the regional governor