Hundreds of Dead Bats Mysteriously Wash Up on Lake Michigan Shore: 'The Craziest Thing Ever'

Published: Friday, August 4, 2023 10:00 am
By: Terry Keshner, WBBM News Radio

The outline of a dead bat can be seen in the waters of Lake Michigan. On Saturday, residents of Michigan City, Ind., said that they scooped "at least 50" dead bats out of the water. No one knew why so many bats were washing up on shore. Photo credit Mike Krauser

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — There's a mystery unfolding in northwest Indiana, where bats washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan on Saturday.

“I’ve probably seen a dozen, two dozen, wash up on shore,” said Jay Silver, who’s a regular at Sheridan Beach. “It’s the craziest thing ever. It must have been a big die-off — something related to the storms? I’m not sure.”

Video captured by WBBM’s Mike Krauser shows the dead bats in the sand, with the waves washing over them. Some people were scooping them up with nets.

“My son-in-law took a walk, maybe half-a-mile up the beach toward Michigan, and he counted 21 bats,” said local resident Mike Haney.

Haney later said about 50 bats were scooped up within two hours. Hundreds more were found over a wider area, too.

One of the bats that washed up on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Michigan City, Ind. Local residents were very puzzled as to how this could have happened. "I've seen people wash up," one resident said. "I've never seen a bat was up." Photo credit Mike Krauser

WBBM has reached out to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for comment. Two endangered bat species are known to call Indiana home: the gray bat and the Indiana bat.

“Very weird,” Haney said. “Someone said that maybe a tree got struck by lightning … and maybe they were all in the tree farther up north. Who knows.”

Silver had a sober observation about the bats.

“I’ve seen people wash up,” he said. “I’ve never seen a bat wash up.”

tags: Great Lakes, Indiana, Lake Michigan