Hundreds of dead eels and trout wash up in river in Dunedin, New Zealand

Low oxygen and high temperatures appear to have caused the deaths of hundreds of eels and trout in Dunedin’s Silverstream.

Mosgiel angler Bevan Campbell, who alerted Fish & Game Otago and the Otago Regional Council, said he had never seen anything like it.

Both agencies were on site last night.

Trout used the lower Silverstream as a refuge when the Taieri River was in flood and dirty, Campbell said.

Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said the likely cause of death was warm, low-oxygen inflows of ponded floodwater from surrounding farmland.

‘We have taken oxygen levels in the lower Silverstream today and they are still very low – borderline lethal for fish – and it’s down to near zero in one of the drains leading into the stream.

Courtesy of nzherald.co.nz

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Thousands of dead fish, crabs, eels and other marine life wash up, ‘never seen before’, on the shores of South Florida’s Biscayne Bay, USA #Fish #Crabs #eels #Octopus#Shrimp #Florida #BiscayneBay #USA

Thousands of dead fish and other sea life washed up this week on the shores of South Florida’s Biscayne Bay.

The fish kill was first reported on Monday. Members of Miami Waterkeeper, an advocacy group, saw about a dozen dead fish when they went out to conduct weekly water sampling. Then reports of dead fish, shrimp, crab, eels, octopus and other animals came in from North Miami to Virginia Key.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” local resident Kathryn Mikesell told New Times. She has swam in the bay at least three mornings a week for five years.

Researchers and government agencies are still investigating the cause, but indicators point to very warm water temperatures and low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, according to a news release from Miami Waterkeeper.

“It’s an emergency. The bay is not in a good place right now,” Piero Gardinali, an associate professor at Florida International University who is helping investigate the fish kill, told New Times. “It’s a warning sign.”

In addition to the dead fish, a large group of rays, believed to be struggling to breathe, huddled along the shoreline near the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, a bird rescue and rehabilitation facility on Biscayne Bay. Personnel from a nearby science aquarium used soaker hoses and air pumps to aerate the corner of the bay where the rays had taken refuge to save them.

Fish and other underwater marine life rely on dissolved oxygen in the water to survive. Warm waters bring those levels down. The Waterkeeper noted very high water temperatures of about 90 degrees in the area where the fish kill was first discovered.

Algae blooms can also cause low oxygen levels, but the Waterkeeper said in an update Thursday that there was no evidence of a toxic bloom. They think an ongoing die-off of sea grass, which produces oxygen, could be a main factor that led to the fish kill.

More than 20 square miles of seagrass has disappeared from the bay in recent years, according to the Waterkeeper. A study last year from NOAA warned that the bay’s ecosystem was on the verge of a “regime shift”. The study found increasing levels of nutrients in the water, which causes numerous impacts that are detrimental to marine habitats.

“We are passing a tipping point for the bay not being able to support any life – literally overnight, the bay became a dead zone,” Miami Waterkeeper said of this week’s fish kill.

“This event is not a ‘normal occurrence,’ but rather a sign that something is seriously out of balance in our bay.”

Courtesy of weather.com

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3,500 dead birds and hundreds of dead eels found in the waterways of Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand #Birds #eels #NewZealand

More than 3500 birds and hundreds of eels have been found dead in waterways on the Hauraki Plains in the Coromandel.

Scientists and conservationists say the crisis is the worst they’ve seen in decades, and it’s putting two areas at risk that are regarded as internationally significant.

Courtesy of newshub.co.nz

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Mass die off of #eels washing up in #LakeChamplain in #Vermont, #USA

Jeff Medor was fishing for bowfin with his sons on Lake Champlain in eastern Alburgh when one of his kids caught something unusual: an American eel.

While that eel looked healthy, that same week they spotted another one on shore, dead.

“And then another one and another one,” he said. “I think we’re up to six here.”

Bernie Pientka, a fisheries biologist with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the state has received reports of 16 dead eels washed up on northern Lake Champlain so far this year — up from one last year.

“It’s not necessarily huge,” he said. “But it’s not a common occurrence.”

The dead eels being reported are larger fish, probably 8 to 10 years old, that seem to be prepping for migration, he said.

Courtesy of vtdigger.org

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Hundreds of dead #fish and #eels found in #London #canal, #UK

Hundreds of fish and eels were found dead in one of London’s busiest canals after the heatwave.

Environment Agency teams were called at the weekend after the marine life was spotted on the surface of the Grand Union Canal. About 400 fish were removed from a basin of water near to Kensal Green that included pike, tench, perch and roach.

Tests are being carried out by the Canal & River Trust to find the cause. An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We currently believe the causes were natural following the hot weather, however, at the moment we can’t rule out pollution in the canal.”

Extra oxygen was pumped into the water after the removal operation. Waterways can heat up in summer causing a reduction in oxygen levels.

The canal is also experiencing high levels of duckweed, that can also threaten marine life by depleting sunlight hitting the water and further reducing oxygen levels.

Duckweeds are ladybird-sized flowering aquatic plants that float on the surface of slow-moving water, blanketing it in a green crust. Nearly 800 tons of the suffocating weed have been scooped from London’s waterways by the trust since April as temperatures have risen. Joe Coggins, spokesman for the trust, said: “Our teams working out on the water will continue to monitor for any signs of fish distress and will continue to remove duckweed.

Courtesy of standard.co.uk

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Hundreds of dead fish, manatees, sea turtles, eels and other marine life wash up in Boca Grande, Florida, USA

Charter boat captain Chris Oneill videotaped those dead manatees, Tuesday, and posted the video to his Facebook page. The video has since been viewed more than a million times and drawn attention to the area’s fish kills.

“I haven’t been able to fish for a week, since mid-last week, because fish started dying and we’re not going to take people out here and subject them to these conditions because there are potential health concerns as well,” Oneill said.

Hundreds of dead fish were crowding Boca Grande’s coastline. Maggots were seen eating the rotting fish, which were emitting a strong odor.

Oneill counted more than 40 endangered Goliath Groupers washed up on the beach this week, ranging from 10 pounds to 400 pounds.

“Black grouper, gag grouper, red grouper, trout, eel, puffer fish, everything you could imagine is right here in this weed line that’s washed up the last couple days,” he said as he pointed out the rotting fish.

Guests were also frustrated by the fish kills. The beach was mostly empty, Wednesday, with the exception of a couple of visitors who were checking out the dead fish for themselves.

“We’ve been hanging out at the pool because… look, there’s no one hanging out at the beach. It’s terrible,” said one visitor. “We have another family vacation planned without kids in August and we’re not sure we’re going to come. If there’s red ride, we’re definitely not coming.”

The fish kills come as the National Weather Service issued beach hazards statements for red tide for coastal northern Lee County and coastal Sarasota County.

Captain Oneill is not sure what is causing the red tide, but notes after Lake Okeechobee water releases, Southwest Florida’s coasts regularly have fish kills.

“I can’t put my finger on what exactly the problem is, but I can certainly tell you any time they dump that lake, and the discharge comes out of the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, within a week we start seeing significant kills along our shorelines here in Southwest Florida,” he said. “It’s sad to see that so much death is happening. I’ve only been here 15 years, and year after year I see things like this. This is the worst I’ve seen, and I’ve yet to see anyone out here assessing the problem or trying to figure it out.”

Courtesy of abcactionnews.com

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Hundreds of dead catfish, eels and seahorses found on a beach in Kailua, Hawaii, USA

 

Some Kailua residents thought they could took a break from the rain and stroll the beach.

 

Instead, they found hundreds of dead fish littering the shoreline.

 

The fish were found Sunday along Kailua Beach near Castles. Some of the marine creatures found rotting on the beach were seahorse, eels, and hundreds of freshwater catfish.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Kailua resident Zabia Geisreiter. “I brought my dog down here today and we only spent about five minutes. You don’t want to walk in this.”

 

We learned the City and County of Honolulu is responsible for removing beach debris if it becomes a nuisance or unsanitary. The city tells us it’s looking into the situation and will have an update Wednesday.

 

At this point, the city says it’s unknown where the fish came from. It’s possible the stream runoff from the storm caused the fish to die.

 

“One major possibility is that all the rain and runoff created nutrients, a plankton bloom, used up all the oxygen in the marsh, and the low oxygen levels led to a major fish kill,” said Alan Friedlander, director of Fisheries Ecology Research Lab at the University of Hawaii.

 

“We don’t usually see this many dead fish,” said Michael Loftin of 808 Cleanups.

 

808 Cleanups says it’s willing to lend a helping hand, but is waiting to hear back from the city first. In the meantime, Loftin warns beachgoers to be careful.

 

“I wouldn’t want dogs or any other animals eating this fish, so I would advise people to keep a close eye on pets while they are out here until this gets cleaned up,” he said.

Courtesy of khon2.com

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Hundreds of dead eels found in a stream, ‘a shock’ in North Christchurch, New Zealand

Hundreds of fish found dead in a north Christchurch stream were of a rare species that is declining in number and regarded as being at risk.

 

About 800 fish and eels were discovered in a 4-kilometre section of Kaputone Creek in Belfast on Wednesday.

 

Environment Canterbury (ECan) investigators are analysing water samples and testing the fish for the cause of the deaths.

 

They believe the fish were killed by a contaminant, possibly something that entered the stream through the stormwater network or from someone dumping something in the creek.

Courtesy of stuff.co.nz

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Mass die off of fish in the waters of Wilhelmshausen, Germany

Eel, perch, pike, roach eye – all dead. Martin Engelmann is shocked. The 77-year-old angler can not comprehend the mysterious fish death at the lock at Wilhelmshausen. “This is a disaster,” says the Kassel hobby fisherman, who has been fishing in the area for 40 years.

 

Who is responsible for death? Engelmann has a guess: the waterway and shipping office in Hann. Münden, which operates the sluice.

 

“It must have to do with the regulation of the state,” says the Kasseler, “like many other anglers, I also believe that the dams were drained too fast.”

 

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, I could really cry.”

 

This led to the fact that the fish from the area with normally calm waters could not swim in time and died miserably. “I’ve never seen anything like it, I could really cry,” says Engelmann.

Courtesy of hna.de

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Dozens of dead eels found washed ashore in a lake in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

Photo By STEVIE SMIDT/HBRC

 

Another fish kill at troubled Lake Tutira in Hawke’s Bay has authorities concerned.

 

About 20 dead or dying eels were found, and there were reports this week of dead trout at the lake, about 40 kilometres north on Napier.

 

It is the second time this year that a major die-off has been detected.

 

In January, trout and eels died en masse in an event thought to be linked to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the lake’s surface water.

 

“Fish kills have not been uncommon. However, the occurrence of two large fish kills in two consecutive years is unusual and of particular concern,” Hawke’s Bay Regional Council said on Thursday.

 

“I went up yesterday and saw about 20 dead or dying eels,” environmental scientist Andy Hicks said.

 

“The dead eels are very obvious to any visitors who approach the shore, with dead or dying fish observed around the boat ramp, camping grounds and northern end of the lake.

 

“There was a slight stink in the air.”

 

Slip slidin’ away: Eels dead from a previous die-off when “atypically low” dissolved oxygen levels were suspected as the cause.

 

He said regional council staff recorded a pH or acidity level of up to 9.4 at the boat ramp.

 

“Any reading above 9 is extreme…But unlike last year, the monitoring buoy in the lake has not recorded any periods of extremely high temperature or low dissolved oxygen around the times of this fish kill.”

 

Regional council staff saw many common bullies, small native fish, thriving in the shallows of Lake Tutira and nearby Lake Waikopiro. 

 

A Department of Conservation campsite is beside the freshwater lake.

 

UNSAFE TO EAT

 

Hicks said visitors should not touch any dead fish, which were not safe for humans or pets to eat.

 

Dead eels have been sent to Cawthron Research Institute for autopsies, and water samples sent for laboratory analysis to measure nutrient levels and algae presence.

 

The results might not be received till the New Year.

 

This time last year, HBRC declared the lake unfit for swimming, boating or kayaking.

 

In 2009, people were told not to swim in Lake Tutira after cyanobacteria algal blooms were discovered.

 

In 2008, the lake was infested with hydrilla, a highly invasive water weed which the Ministry for Primary Industries considered “one of the world’s worst.”

 

HBRC said it was working with Maungaharuru-Tangitu Trust to improve lake water quality. 

 

University of Waikato lake restoration specialists were also hired to work on a computer modelling project to find solutions for the lake’s ecological crises.

Courtesy of stuff.co.nz

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