Thousands of tiny shrimp-like krill washed up on a beach, turning it a dark shade of orange.

Footage shows the motionless crustaceans filling up the white-sand shore in Masbate province, the Philippines, on April 15.

Tourists who had just landed on the island were astonished at the unusual scene while excited locals gathered their buckets to take some home to eat.

The krill were scattered along the sandbar that stretched at least 30 metres during low tide.

Holidaymaker Lea Polo Saenz said: ‘What we saw was only a portion of what remained on the beach after the locals gathered them. It was my first time seeing that many krill on the shore.'

Local environment officials said there was nothing to worry about the incident as it had already happened before.

Alexis Mabinisaid, a city Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office official, said: ‘The Buntod Reef Marine Sanctuary is rich in resources. It's the season of the whale shark migration. The krill, which is their food, usually pass by that area.'