Thousands Of Dead Fish Wash Ashore In Florida (VIDEO)

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore a Florida state park beach on Friday, WPBF 25 News reports. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists believe a lack of oxygen resulted in the deaths of thousands of menhaden fish at Sebastian Inlet State Park. The officials say this type of fish is especially prone to dying from a lack of oxygen when they swim closer to shore in such large numbers.

In the week prior, around 500 drum fish were found dead in the Arkansas River, in the same location where 83,000 dead fish were discovered a month earlier on December 29th, AP reports.

After the major fish kill at the end of 2010, and the deaths of thousands of birds also reported nearby in Arkansas days later on New Years Eve, news of mass animal deaths from around the world began receiving prominent coverage, though officials have attested that the events are not connected. More birds were reported to fall from the sky across the U.S. and around the world, while similar mass fish kills were also reported worldwide.

Wildlife officials have suggested everything from extremely harsh weather to fireworks and indigestion as being responsible for the various mass animal deaths, while the USDA has taken responsibility for some of the U.S. bird deaths. According to the AP, mass animal deaths are not that uncommon.

WATCH:

Comments

[free eternally]

12:30 PM on 02/10/2011

The cause may be something that the egoic, money-driven mind can not comprehend.
All are connected; what effects one, effects all.
The stress that has been put upon all in the world is from multiple sources. It is possible to have an multiple-species response made on a level that is beyond our ability to measure.
The decision to leave.

[fmz]

10:59 PM on 02/09/2011

Take a look at this map and tell me this looks normal compared to other years?

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=214033381917754770249.00049a0687a13e7bf2bc8&z=2

[fdeltz]

04:26 PM on 02/10/2011

That map is being put together by some unidentified amateur culling the news as his new hobby.

He only is identified by his e-mail: [e-mail].  

There is no basis for any of his past year maps. I can personally recall kills in past years that are not on his map.

You mustn't be so gullible. Check out the sources - research the motives.

[whitebeach]

06:44 PM on 02/10/2011

Fanned for objective evaluation, a thing obviously unfamiliar to many posters here.

The trouble with these posters is, as you point out, their immense gullibility when it comes to any source on the Internet, however specious or unqualified that source might be, as long as it supports their own point of view. Just for a couple of other examples, there is an Italian physicist with no particular qualifications in earth science who has claimed that the BP spill cut off the Gulf Stream current, and this piece of nonsense has been endlessly linked by posters here, just as there is a Florida lawyer with not environmental background at all who devotes a one-man website to suggesting that every time some dead baitfish float up at the end of an Alabama pier or a few dozen dead crabs or jellyfish wash up on a Gulf beach, these are proof positive that the entire Gulf is dying. It doesn't matter at all to the true believers that such events have been utterly commonplace time out of mind. What really seems to matter most of all to people like fmz is to get into a good self-righteous froth about how the End Times are upon us. These folks would probably be appalled at any suggestion that they're not much different from those religionists who decide that the world will end on such and such a date, but in fact they are brothers under the skin.

[fmz]

11:23 AM on 02/11/2011

Yes, you are right. So given that this kid put together a map and populated with real news stories you decided upon your recall this isn't substantive enough. Keep watching the MSM and see where that gets you, with witty jokes and pokes ...maybe a few more fanned and favs and badges. I'm just trying to let people know to look around and stop thinking everything that is going on is some natural occurrence.

[GulfportM]

03:02 PM on 02/09/2011

By Greg Pallone, Brevard County Reporter
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 10:54 AM
MORE INFO
Thousands of dead fish stink up Sebastian Inlet
FWC: Causes and prevention of fish kills
SEBASTIAN INLET --
The results are in from water tests after a large fish kill at Sebastian Inlet State Park, but state biologists still can only speculate the cause.

Several people had called in over the last several days to report the dead bait fish -- and the rotten smell in the air.

Their numbers were staggering, and they piled up along the shoreline.

Biologists theorized with all the fish in the water, the oxygen became depleted, killing them.

Water samples checked at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lab confirmed low oxygen levels, and the possibility that some type of algae bloom may be responsible.

But tests were not able to confirm that, as many times such blooms do not last long enough to show up in the measurements.

http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2011/february/205933/Test-results-back-on-massive-fish-kill-at-Sebastian-Inlet

[sweetsoutherngirl]

06:21 AM on 02/09/2011

Last week-end I went down to the Chattahoochee river here in Georgia. There were hundreds of dead fish all along the banks. Went back a couple of days later to show some friends, not one dead fish anywhere! Say What???? Took a picture of all the dead fish....can you post pictures on this site?

[RationalCaliGirl]

12:52 AM on 02/09/2011

Florida? HMMM, how about contamination from the Arco spill?

[dugmaze]

08:43 PM on 02/08/2011

Maybe they didn't wait thirty minutes after they ate before they went swimming. Duh.

[BirdBarrier]

08:18 PM on 02/08/2011

At least it wasn't more birds! I hope it wasn't the oil either.

Humane bird control at www.birdbarrier.com

I don't know about human fish control though...

[shilow]

07:49 PM on 02/08/2011

I smell oil gas corexit and pesticides in some of these comments.

[Maxiesid]

04:47 PM on 02/08/2011

Nothing to see here, folks, this is a natural occurence... you know, thousanda of fish regularly die at the same time from purely natural causes.. like um.. old age!! Yeah.. or maybe there were fireworks and the fish were startled and ran into each other and stuff.. in the water... you know! .. *snark*

[whitebeach]

07:56 PM on 02/08/2011

In fact thousands of fish do very often die at the same time in the same general area. This is a fact neither new nor remarkable. Anyone who has ever spent much time around large bodies of water, whether fresh or salt, is aware of it. Why aren't you?

Your mindset reminds me of the cultists who continually find in every deadly event, whether an earthquake or a war or a hurricane or a flood, a sign of the End Times. Listen: Largescale fishkills happen often and almost everywhere there is a river, lake, swamp, or ocean. They have happened time out of mind. Same for birds. Same for domestic animals, especially those that are being maintained outside their natural range.

[fmz]

10:56 PM on 02/09/2011

Have you been watching the rest of the world? I suspect not. Because if you did then you might reconsider your reply.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=214033381917754770249.00049a0687a13e7bf2bc8&z=2

[shilow]

03:43 AM on 02/10/2011

whitebeach/ You are asleep and dreaming. Our marine life is dying at an alarming rate all over the globe. Thousands millions and tons of fish are dying.
Birds too.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:27 PM on 02/08/2011

ahhhhh, Corexit at work. But it's not BP's fault... I'm sure. I so really want to eat fish from the Gulf.....really I do.

Florida also has GIANT fish kills from all of the chemicals used on lawns -forced by HO Associations - and of course, golf courses.....which spray so many herbicides and pesticides on their grass..... that I'm surprised anyhing lives near them. This is called RED TIIDE and is toxic to humans. I went to the beach the year it was really bad....and he coughing and choking began about 5 mins after walking on the beach.

Ever notice the "ponds" on golf courses have no life in them? What a surprise.

Ahhh Floriduh..... where ALL of the toxins concentrate... humand AND chemical.

[ekg]

03:44 PM on 02/08/2011

How you are wrong:
1- Sebastian, FL is on the Central East Coast. There is this body of water called the Atlantic Ocean that is slightly larger than the Gulf that borders it. Speaking in terms of ppm, the dispersant argument holds no water. (pun intended)
2-Red Tides are caused by other organisms (not chemical dispersants) and are the byproduct of their metabolism.
3-Most golf course ponds are stocked with fish.

I will give you this, golf courses and chemical fertilizers are horrible for the marine environment.

[GraphicMatt]

06:49 PM on 02/08/2011

3.....and turtles and sometimes aligators, lol.

[shilow]

07:40 PM on 02/08/2011

Haven't you ever head of the gulf loop currant which comes from the gulf and goes down and around to Florida's east coast and up to North Caralina and then to Europe ? Did you think the oil and corexit just stayed in the gulf?

As for Red tide the (Concerned about the future was right) Nitrogen Phosphorus and other nutrients in coastal waters are increasing due to RUNOFF from fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste. The sad fact is increasingly more frequent occurances of RED TIDE in some areas . Florida is bad for using toxic chemicals.

People want all the bugs around their home and lawns killed and they hire people to TREAT their lawn. All these poisons are killing everything!

[GraphicMatt]

03:54 PM on 02/08/2011

You seem to be an expert on the matter so perhaps you can answer a question for me. If this were in fact caused by the corexit used up there in the Gulf, how exactly did those toxins travel through the Florida Straits without having any effect in the Keys? Surely those toxins would have to pass through that area to get to the Atlantic no? As to the red tide having been "really bad", when exactly was that and where in Florida?

[PotomacOracle]

05:51 PM on 02/08/2011

I see u didn't get a an answer. Here are a few links to get you a bit more familiar with the topic.

I don't think it's happenstance that Red tides are most ubiquitous in regions where methane seepage proliferates. Being a significant contributor to life forms, methane is primarily responsible for the genesis of Red tide, (K. brevis) The oil industry won't ever admit its complicity in creating an environment for the emergence of these micro-organisms.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/medicine/aquatic/pdfs/Red_Tide_QandA.pdf

http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=9670

[shilow]

10:44 PM on 02/08/2011

www.floridaoilspillaw.com lots of articles there about the oil and corexit.
One can also google (Did oil enter the gulf loop currant.
Also one can google (did the loop currant stall.)
Also one can google ( Gulf blue plague)

[Justeden]

01:48 PM on 02/08/2011

Birs are falling from the sky and fish are dying...the north pole is moving 40 miles per year.....
THE END IS NEAR.

[RudyHaugeneder]

02:15 PM on 02/08/2011

That's what Adam and Eve said after one of their sons was murdered by his brother.
Since then, however, their seed have expanded to seven billion people. Did they have their timing wrong?

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

01:25 PM on 02/08/2011

Attempted explanation: "Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists believe a lack of oxygen resulted in the deaths of thousands of menhaden fish at Sebastian Inlet State Park. The officials say this type of fish is especially prone to dying from a lack of oxygen when they swim closer to shore in such large numbers."

FAIL. Wouldn't they instinctively KNOW then to NOT swim so close to shore in large numbers? So they either died out at sea in the middle of the Corexit, or they were swimming to get away from the Corexit and went against their insticnt.

Either way, BP and their shoddy method of "clean-up" is at the bottom of all this...so let's just all reject the Kool-Aid explanations and put 2 & 2 together, shall we?

[BabyBear666]

03:27 PM on 02/08/2011

As much as I would LOVE to blame BP for this, this happened on the west coast of Florida. AKA, the Atlantic Ocean. Please do your research before you start pointing fingers, you're making the rest of us look bad.

[BabyBear666]

03:29 PM on 02/08/2011

Sorry, I meant to type the East coast of Florida, not the west.

[shilow]

10:53 PM on 02/08/2011

I think you are the one that needs to do research.

[muhair]

03:41 PM on 02/08/2011

These deaths are typically caused by a harmful algea bloom, sometimes toxic, sometimes not, but most often attributable to chemical runoff from land.... in FL this would be mostly fertilizer. The algae gets fertilized, grows, dies, and resulting rot sucks O2 from the water so fish can't breath. But here are toxic algae forms that simply poison. A bunch of dolphins were killed off the FL coast a few years ago by an algal toxin. Happens a lot, actually, all over the world, and is hard on coastal marine mammals. It's one of those under the radar but not insignificant effects of man on the planet.....

[GulfportM]

03:27 PM on 02/09/2011

" most often attributable to chemical runoff from land." Not exactly a true statement that can be backed up...

The cause of red tide blooms is still unknown, but most scientists agree that excess nutrients -- from artificial fertilizers to natural organic decay -- play a role because the nutrients allow the algae to live and reproduce. Many scientists also believe ocean currents play an important role in bloom formation by concentrating large amounts of red tide in certain areas. Blooms have been found both far offshore and in coastal bays and estuaries.

The state of Florida, however, disputes that there are more red tides today than in the past. Early explorers to this region documented red tide effects as early as the 1540's. The plant-like red tide cell was identified in 1947 and later named Karenia brevis, for Karen Steidinger, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scientist instrumental in research efforts.

Red tide is a natural phenomenon not caused by human beings. When temperature, salinity, and nutrients reach certain levels, a massive increase in Karenia brevis algae occurs. No one knows the exact combination of factors that causes red tide, but some experts believe high temperatures combined with a lack of wind and rainfall are usually at the root of red tide blooms. There are no known ways that humans can control it, but many scientists around the world are studying red tide at present.

[sonoffestus]

12:51 PM on 02/08/2011

We have had human feet washing up on our shores here in BC for the last two years. I don't think it was from the lack of oxygen though.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:29 PM on 02/08/2011

You must have a mafia problem then.

[sonoffestus]

05:34 PM on 02/08/2011

No one really knows what is going on. It is still quite a mystery. It may be gang related, but no one hs a clue what' going on.

[ontariogirl]

03:57 PM on 02/09/2011

Could be fireworks.

[sonoffestus]

05:24 PM on 02/09/2011

Funny , good one!

[sonoffestus]

12:44 PM on 02/08/2011

As we continue to abuse the environment one day we will wake up and read ,"thousands of dead humans wash up on the shores of................." Glad I 'm getting older.

[fourtruth]

01:36 PM on 02/08/2011

I second that!

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:30 PM on 02/08/2011

For some reason, I wouldn't mind that. As long as some of them are the Coast Guard that helped BP via my tax dollar, or anyone who supports offshore drilling STILL.

[ekg]

03:50 PM on 02/08/2011

Do not take jabs at the Coasties.

[whitebeach]

08:13 PM on 02/08/2011

I sincerely doubt that you have done anything in your life as positive, as productive, and as life-saving as the average member of the U.S. Coast Guard does in a routine tour of duty. I sincerely doubt that any organization of which you have been a part has done as much for our country, or even for the Gulf of Mexico, as the Coast Guard has done since this environmental crisis began.

Go away, little thing.

[netzwerg]

11:50 AM on 02/08/2011

Maybe these fish had a little Corexit 9500 overdose?

[ekg]

03:50 PM on 02/08/2011

Wrong