Lluvia de Peces or Rain of Fish is a phenomenon that has been occurring for more than a century on a yearly basis in the country of Honduras.
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The Rain of Fish is common in Honduran Folklore. It occurs in the Departamento de Yoro, between the months of May and July.
Witnesses of this phenomenon state that it begins with a dark cloud in the sky followed by lightning, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain for two to three hours. Once the rain has stopped, hundreds of living fish are found on the ground[1]. People take the fish home to cook and eat them.
A popular song: "Conozca Honduras" (Know Honduras)[2] says:
"Donde hay lluvia de peces cual milagro celestial"
(Where there is rain of fish, like a heavenly miracle)
Since 1998 a festival known as "Festival de la Lluvia de Peces" (Festival of the Rain of Fishes) is celebrated every year in the city of Yoro, Departamento de Yoro, Honduras [3].
On July 26, 2006 a Honduran TV news program, Abriendo Brecha made a report about this phenomenon, saying that the Rain of Fish has been occurring twice a year lately.
A Honduran newspaper "El Heraldo" published about the documentary film to be produced by Lion TV about this phenomenon [4]
The explanation generally offered for the rain of fish is meteorogical, in terms of strong winds or waterspouts, as for other accounts of raining animals[5]. The most likely source of the fish is the Atlantic Ocean, about 200km (140 miles) away. This explanation is seen as improbable as it requires the unlikely coincidence of waterspouts collecting fish in the open sea every year in May - June and transporting it directly to Yoro[6].
An alternative story claims that the fish are not sea water fish, but fresh water fish, and that they swim from a nearby river into a subterranean water current. Some of the fish then leave this current and appear on the ground inland. It is claimed that in the 1970s National Geographic sent some professionals to report on this phenomenon. They discovered that all the fish were approximately the same size, around 6 inches (15.2 cm), and completely blind. The experts identified the species but found no record of it in any surrounding bodies of water. Their theory was that these fish are from underground rivers, never exposed to light and thus blind. [7]
An esoteric institution tries to explain this phenomenon according to its own teachings. [8]
Many people believe this phenomenon occurs because of Father José Manuel Subirana, a Spanish Catholic missionary and considered by many to be a saint. He visited Honduras from 1856-1864, and upon encountering so many poor people, prayed for 3 days and 3 nights asking God for a miracle to help the poor people by providing food. The Rain of Fish has occurred ever since [9].
The phenomenon is also quoted in recent appeals by missionaries for funds to alleviate poverty in Honduras[10].