Lake Erie Fish Kill Sept 2

[OldTimer]

Multi-species fish die-off in Lake Erie

http://www.lfpress.com/2012/09/02/minist...ie-beaches

[OldTimer]

MORE

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2012/09/0...-dead-fish

edit yet more:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/st...-fish.html

[MichaelAngelo]

I saw this in the news today. I'd love to learn about the species breakdown of the die-off... looked like a lot of freshwater drum in the images?

This is insane... I wonder if fishing is going to be any good there for a while??? Eerie is supposed to be a great bass lake.

[OldTimer]

Latest news is that they are finding a LOT of dead sea gulls too.

From what I've read so far the dead "floaters" are mostly larger fish. Bass, sheepshead, cats, bass, perch are those I see, and those that are mentioned the most.

Also remember that in most die offs we only see a portion of the dead fish - those that wash-up. ..................The bottom of the lake sees the rest. Actual death toll here could be quite large.

[MichaelAngelo]

This is terrible. I'm not a follower of any news, but I hope this gets a lot of media attention and investigators can find out what happened.

Naturally occurring lake inversion??? http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew...45887.html

Please tell me this isn't the first time this "lake inversion" has ever been reported...

[MichaelAngelo]

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/381076/2...trario.htm

[OldTimer]

In my look about today I read an American website’s discussion on the fish kills on Lake Erie…. and finally saw what I feel is a fairly good explanation of what happened.

I wasn’t buying the “simple” low oxygen deeper water turnover story thing, being circulated in our Canadian press, as it was (cuz in summer usually the deeper colder water has higher oxygen- that’s why some fish (lake trout, whitefish, herring, smelt, etc) go there).

But I do believe this as it was described………… – 2011 was THE record year for Algae growth on Lake Erie……….it died and sank to the bottom this winter……..then the algae began to decompose – which takes oxygen, and depleted the dissolved oxygen at that level…… then recent local high winds combined with the natural lake turnover process brought the cooler, deeper , oxygen depleted, rank smelling partially decomposed algae laden waters to the surface.

This would be the cause of horrible smell residents complained of several days before the fish washed up on shore.

Would be like swimming in sewage sludge for the fish………………. Gonzo………….

What might be a bit concerning is that this year (2012) we are on our way to even higher algae blooms in Erie and other lakes.

However the "Final" lab results are not back yet……………?????????????

[OldTimer]

MNR has posted a new page at its website on this:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Let...99051.html

[MichaelAngelo]

Well that explanation makes a lot more sense to me. Now I can sleep easy.