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Tens of thousands of dead fish stink up Lake Erie shore
Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed up on a 25-mile stretch of Lake Erie's northern shore, and Ontario environmental officials say they could be victims of a natural phenomenon called a lake inversion.
The inversion brings cold water, which has lower oxygen levels, to the lake's surface and fish suffocate.
"Essentially it's a rolling over of the lake," Ontario Ministry of the Environment spokeswoman Kate Jordan told The Chatham Daily News. "Something - whether it be a storm, or cooler temperatures at night, or strong winds - triggers a temperature change in the lake."
Jordan said it was windy and choppy on the lake Friday night, according to a report in The Windsor Star. The fish kill was reported Saturday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the central basin of Lake Erie, between Cleveland on the south and Chatham, Ontario, on the north is particularly susceptible to oxygen deprivation, with the danger peaking in late August and mid-September.
Others suspect a sewage spill may have something to do with the fish kill.
David Colby, chief medical officer of the Chatham-Kent district where dead fish litter the beaches, told The Windsor Star that residents reported a strong sewage smell the night before the fish washed ashore.
“All kinds of people were woken out of a sound sleep by a stench and it was like a septic tank was backing up,” The Windsor Star quoted Colby as saying.
But Jordan said tests of lake water taken Saturday showed no signs of what might have killed the fish. The water was tested for oxygen, PH levels, conductivity and temperature, she said.
"The ministry did not observe any evidence of a spill or pollution and water quality measurements done did not show anything unusual," Jordan told CNN.
The investigation was continuing, she said.
The dead fish included carp, sheepshead, perch, catfish and suckers, the Daily News reported, and Colby said most were of good size.
"I haven't seen anything like this in quite some time," the Daily News quoted him as saying. "The interesting thing is that most of the fish are sizable. There are very few little ones."
Jordan told the Toronto Star the cleanup of the fish has yet to begin.
“We are having discussions with Environment Canada, the health unit and natural resources about that now,” the Toronto Star quoted her as saying.
Meanwhile, residents said the smell of rotting fish is overpowering.
"I had family here (on Monday) and I didn't allow them to take the dog or the children down to the beach," Chatham-Kent resident Patricia Pook told CNN affiliate CBC News. "I knew it was bad, but the smell is just overwhelming. It would make you sick to your stomach."
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Temp change. Sorry.
doesn't cold water have a higher oxygen content than warm water?
I keep an aquarium and was always told that warmer water doesn't hold oxygen as well.
Yes! Hoping someone would pick up on that.
Cold water has higher POTENTIAL oxygen for the fish to use. However, oxygen levels normally deplete the deeper you go. Therefore, cold water coming to the surface could very well be depleted of oxygen.
*The More You Know*
Yes, cold water holds more oxygen, all things being equal.
The cause of them dying could be both the turn over and sewage spills. Have you seen what people are dumping in lakes and rivers lately?
Maybe that missing maple syrup got dumped there.
Normally the only thing that stinks in Northern Ohio are the Cleveland Browns
Ah but you forget the Cavs, the Indians, and Cleveland as a whole. And I'm from Cleveland.
Catfish can live in low oxygen waters. Has to be sewage or something else causing the die offs.
Well, although it is interesting to read some of the theorys and " the sky is falling" comments, Nothing new here. This is a natural occurance that happens every couple of years. I can remember this happening every few yrs since I was a child almost 50 yrs ago. CNN must be short on sensational stories today
Almost certainly from turnover or "inversion". The fact that most of the fish were adults would tend to suggest it as well – big fish need more oxygen. Disheartening, but natural. Erie is huge, and any sort of sewage dump that caused a major fish kill would thus have to be reciprocally huge – a sewage dump large enough to cause this, while possible, would be neigh impossible to miss were it a single event.
Jim is totally correct there – cold water does have more oxygen, not less. The comments below a news story aren't supposed to be more accurate than the actual journalism!!
I live right near detroit river, n every year around march when all the ice is melting and the water starts to warm up, if you go down at pillette dock, the whole river is just pure dead fish floating, but I never seen this when there hasnt been a freezing winter to cause a die off. And its usually little fish not all the big ones.
Out lakes = sewers
Now...if this could somehow be repeated in the Mississippi watershed, then we'd have a way to rid it of those flying carp.
The apocalypse begins.
@SIGNONE...yes...the apolcolypse began with your brain.
There's something awfuwwy fishy going on awound hewe.
Can the rotting fish be collected for soil fertilizer?
Fish emulsion makes great fertilizer – that's an excellent idea.
Help yourself greenie. Take all you want..