Thousands of dead fish appear in two lagoons in Petén, Guatemala
Thousands of fish are dying in natural tributaries of the Mirador Río Azul National Park and Biotopo Dos Lagunas in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (RBM), in Flores, Petén.
It is believed that one of the causes is the lack of oxygen and that the tributaries are drying up. Among the species that die are the native ones, tilapias and devil fish, according to the authorities.
Large numbers of dead fish and others dying were found in the area. So far the cause of death of fish of all species and sizes has not been reported with certainty.
“It is striking that it is a protected area far from the populations, until there are invasive species such as the Devil Fish and the Tilapia,” said Francisco Asturias, of the Foundation for Eco-Development and Conservation (Fubdaeco).
Courtesy of elperiodico.com.gt
Tens of thousands of dead fish washing up in New Jersey, USA
Just over a month ago, a fish was spotted by New Jersey-based nonprofit group Clean Ocean Action as it was in a death throe, spinning in circles in the Navisink River.
Now far more dying menhaden, also called bunker fish, are spinning in circles, this time in the Shrewsbury River. Those fish clinging to life are are surrounded by tens of thousands of other dead fish spotted up and down both rivers that empty into Sandy Hook Bay. The dead menhaden float in the rivers, sink to the bottom, line the shore, litter boat landings and rot next to bulkheads — providing a pungent and overwhelming odor.
Every town on both rivers has been dealing with the smell for weeks now, as the massive die-off in menhaden continues. The stench not only makes makes life unpleasant for residents, but can hurt business. One of the owners at the Bacon Beach Grill in Long Beach said it all depends on which way the wind blows, and if it’s going the wrong direction, it’s bad news for outdoor diners.
“It’s been very difficult with the pandemic and now the fish smell. You don’t know when (the smell) is going to come this way” said Fran Schults.
Courtesy of nbcnewyork.com
Thousands of dead fish floating in lake Maninjau, Indonesia
Fishermen pass near thousands of floating net caramba fish that died in Lake Maninjau, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, Thursday (04/29/2021).
The death of the floating net caramba fish was caused by a lack of oxygen levels at the bottom of the lake and bad weather that hit the area.
Courtesy of republika.co.id
TONNES of dead fish wash up in a lake in Lebanon
Tonnes of dead fish have washed up on the shore of a highly polluted lake in eastern Lebanon in recent days, an official said Thursday.
It was not immediately clear what caused the dead fish in Lake Qaraoun on the Litani river, which several local fishermen said was unprecedented in scale.
A preliminary report said a virus had killed only carp in the lake, but a veteran water expert said their deaths could also have been caused by pollution.
Hundreds of fish of all sizes lay dead on the banks of the more than five kilometer long lake Thursday, and the stench of their rotting flesh clung to the air.
Men shoveled carcasses into a wheelbarrow, as a mechanical digger scooped up more into the back of a truck.
“It’s our third day here picking up dead fish,” said Nassrallah el-Hajj, from the Litani River Authority, dressed in fishing waders, adding they had so far “carried away around 40 tons.”
On the water’s edge, 61-year-old fisherman Mahmoud Afif said it was a “disaster.”
“In my life I’ve never seen anything like it,” said the father-of-two.
The Qaraoun lake was built as a reservoir on the Litani river in 1959 to produce hydropower and provide water for irrigation.
But in recent years experts have warned huge quantities of wastewater, industrial waste, and agricultural runoff containing pesticides and fertilizer flooding into it have made it increasingly toxic.
Courtesy of arabnews.com
Thousands of dead fish wash up on coast of Auckland, New Zealand
Thousands of fish have been found dead along Auckland’s Beachlands coastline, worrying locals as a strong stench lingers.
Mandy Reeves was going for a walk on Monday when she noticed a smell near the Pine Harbour marina.
But it wasn’t until around 1pm on Tuesday when she discovered a sea of dead fish.
Reeves told the Herald there were thousands of the same type of fish dead in the water and on the rocks.
“There are thousands of them. On Monday there was a smell but no sign of fish. Tuesday I was down near the marina and I thought oh gosh what is that stuff?
“And the coastline was covered in white. There were thousands of them.
“They were white-silvery long fish. It’s very smelly, it really stinks down there. But the water looks relatively clear.”
Courtesy of nzherald.co.nz
Thousands of dead fish wash up in a lagoon in Jaquimeyes, Barahona, Dominican Republic
The economy and food for many families could be seriously affected in the coming days because of the death of thousands of fish after the drought that has affected the Jaquimeyes lagoon in Barahona since December.
Community leader Luis Beltré recorded the worrying scene of the death of the different species of tilapias, siricas and mojarra in a video.
Beltré assures that the mojarra has disappeared in more than 90% and only exists in Jaquimeyes.
He assured that the number of dead fish is enormous due to the high levels of salinity, whose fish have been thrown along 10 kilometers of the shore of the lagoon.
He explained that the Yaque del Sur River fed the lagoon through a channel that is sedimented and abandoned, which starts from Vicente Noble, whose water reached the lagoon by gravity to reduce these disasters with the death of thousands of species.
Courtesy of diariolibre.com
More than 10,000 pounds of dead fish picked up from Charlotte County shores, Florida, USA
Charlotte County is facing a water crisis as numerous dead fish are washing up on the shores of Charlotte Harbor.
Notices warning of red tide have been placed at Bayshore Live Oak Park and Port Charlotte Beach Park.
Crews have been picking up the carcasses, but the smell lingers.
According to Brian Gleason, communications manager with Charlotte County, on Tuesday, 3,720 pounds of dead fish were scooped up.
On Wednesday, it almost doubled to 6,320 pounds of dead fish.
The crews are focusing on Bayshore Live Oak Park and Port Charlotte Beach Park.
“It smells like, it just smells like fish,” said Steve Arnold, of Sarasota. “There’s no other good way of putting it. It’s not pleasant.”
Courtesy of winknews.com
Thousands of dead fish wash up in a lagoon in Junín, Argentina
As a result of a strong wind from the south that blew throughout the night of Saturday in the Buenos Aires town of Junín, thousands of fish that lived in the Laguna de Gómez were dragged to the shore, where they ended up dying.
The inhabitants of this city located in the interior of the province of Buenos Aires were surprised when, waking up on Sunday morning, they found the image of silversides, tents and catfish piled on the ground, meters from the water.
According to the local newspaper Democracia, this phenomenon originated because the great gusts removed the bottom of the lagoon where there is a large concentration of debris, product of the drought that affected the area in recent days.
These debris are particles that arose as a result of the decomposition of a solid mass, and caused the lack of oxygen in the water that led to the death of the fish that, already lifeless, were dragged by the mainland current.
During the day, employees of the municipality toured the coast collecting the remains of these specimens to take them to another place and prevent them from causing major problems in the population. Work would continue throughout Monday.
It is not the first time that something like this has happened in Junín, and even in the Laguna de Gómez, where in 2012 thousands of fish also died due to the decrease in their water volume after an intense drought.
Courtesy of infobae.com
Thousands of dead fish wash up along a river in New Jersey, USA
Local waterways and river banks have been awash in dead fish recently, an occurrence that seems to be increasing.
Swarna Muthukrishnan, Ph.D. the staff scientist for Clean Ocean Action, explained the scenarios during which this phenomenon might occur, which included natural (varying oxygen levels in the water), man-made (climate change, toxic runoff) and bacterial.
And the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), has now determined that a Vibrio bacterium specific to fish seems to be causing the current fish kills in the area, according to information from COA.
Residents and others along the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers may be used to seeing the dead menhaden – an oily fish harvested by fishermen for chum and for use in sup- plements, livestock feed and cosmetics, among oth- er things – at certain times throughout the year. A filter fish at the bottom of the food chain, menhaden, or bunker fish, swim in schools and are the favorite prey of larger fish and marine birds. They are often chased into shallow waters and, during warmer months, die from the low levels of dissolved oxygen in those areas.
But dead fish began showing up in November and December, two colder months that don’t usually fit this pattern, and the fish were seen “spinning” in the water before dying. Sightings increased dramatically this past week.
Rick Swanson, a 20-year resident of Fair Haven, said he has seen the dead fish wash up every year and agreed that this year is especially bad. He lives where Fair Haven meets Red Bank at what he called an “elbow” in the Navesink River. “The wind and the current go right into the corners and we get everything that washes up,” he said. This week that included thousands of dead menhaden.
“They’re coming in almost like an oil slick,” Swanson said. “This is definitely several times the volume of anything we’ve ever seen.”
Courtesy of tworivertimes.com
Thousands of dead fish wash up in a harbour in South Africa
It took the Marine Wildlife Management team at the V&A Waterfront several days to scoop up thousands of dead mullets (a type of fish) that were floating in the harbour. For the past few weeks shoppers had to endure a strong rotting fish smell as a result.
Donald Kau, communications officer for the V&A Waterfront, says every year the Waterfront has mullets breeding in the basin, but this year the number was quite high.
He said the fish died because of lack of oxygen. “We also saw a large school of mackerel entering the harbour, and the high volume of fish obviously impacted on the levels of oxygen in the water, causing the fish to die.”
Kau says the mullets return every year to breed and their numbers are being monitored. He explained this annual occurrence does not seem to impact on its numbers too negatively as only the strong survive.
He says the reason for heightened activity of marine life in the harbour is that fish is a great source of food for the Cape Fur Seals and the Sea Gulls.
“It is also confirmed the school of mackerel was followed by a pair of Humpback Whales, so the harbour basin literally had a ‘system overload’,” Kau explained.
He reiterated that there’s no cause for concern as it is a “natural occurrence”. “The marine and harbour team sees this kind of activity every year and when it happens, they mitigate the reduced oxygen by opening the lock and flushing the bay with the water from the canals. This gets done up to six times a day.”
Renée Leeuwner, communication and media executive officer for the Two Oceans Aquarium, says because of the high ammonia levels (1 mg/litre), the aquarium has had to shut off the water supply from the harbour and will be run on a closed system (no incoming water) to protect the animals in its care.
“We have also increased the freshwater flows into our harbour basins to increase the oxygen levels in the water, which is so important for its aquatic life,” concludes Kau.
Courtesy of news24.com
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