The mystery of a stream’s spontaneous blood-red coloring has been solved.
An Environmental Agency investigation of the stream in Northamptonshire, England, revealed that the bizarre coloring is the result of a large red ink spillage, according to the Northampton Chronicle.
Locals were likening the seemingly gory sight to a scene from a horror film.
“At first I thought something had died as it looked like blood but when it was all the way along we said it must have been a whale to create that much blood," Northampton resident Pep Finn-Scinaldi, 28, told the news outlet.
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A stream in Northamptonshire turned a deep shade of red due to a nearby ink spillage.
An EA spokesman confirmed to HuffPost UK that the color change was caused by water-based ink. The rep said it would not cause any environmental issues.
In 2012, a similar incident turned the Beirut River a dark crimson shade. In that case, the coloring was caused by a factory illegally dumping dye. The same year, the Yangtze River mysteriously turned rouge; however, it appears no one's quite sure what caused the color change.