This has been the longest six weeks of our lives.
Over the weekend, a harrowing site was seen in Fairhaven in Anne Arundel County when Kelly McGarvey spotted THOUSANDS of dead cicadas washed up on the beach of Herring Bay.
McGarvey shared with Capital Gazette that the smell of the dead bugs was so strong that she sensed it before she step foot on the beach.
“It’s pretty disgusting,” she said. “And cool.”
Cicadas thrive in environments with soil, not sand. So how did they end up here? WJLA asked entomologists Dr. Samuel Ramsey and Michael Raupp for clarity.
"Bodies of water can conjure up some pretty powerful weather patterns and pressure systems and cicadas are not the best fliers," Dr. Ramsey shared. "Strong storm winds like we've seen recently can sweep them off course and cause they can't fly for long periods of time, they land in the water, drown, and get washed up on the shore."
Thumbnail photo: Getty