Tens of thousands of dead fish turned up in Marina Del Rey in Southern California over the weekend, creating a feast for birds and a major stink for tourists and residents.
“It was like a Hitchcock movie. There were so many birds diving into the water and feeding,” Michael Quill of Marina Del Rey told KABC. “You could see the silver of the fish underwater, it was crazy.”
The dead fish included anchovies, sting rays, angel sharks and more.
“Warmer temperatures can create algal blooms, which will suck up a lot of oxygen,” Matthew King of Heal the Bay told NBC Los Angeles. “That’s happened in the past, and hot weather always has been associated with low oxygen levels in the water.”
Marine biologist Benjamin Kay called it an oxygen dead zone.
“When water is heated, it can’t hold oxygen as normal as if it were cooler, then we get these massive fish kills. This is a classic harbor event,” Kay told KABC.
But while it may be a “classic harbor event,” and something that happens from time to time, some longtime residents say this is one of the worst they can remember.
“I’ve been here for about 20 years and this is the first time I’ve seen a fish kill like this one,” Tom Difloure told CBSLA.com.
An unbearable stench for us is a remarkable feast for the seagulls, pelicans, sea lions and more that turned up in force to get their fill. One user on YouTube filmed pelicans so full of fish they apparently couldn’t fly because of it.
On Sunday afternoon, workers pulled about 7,000 pounds of dead fish out of the water, according to NBC. In the past, fish removed from the harbor have been used as fertilizer, reported the Santa Monica Mirror.
But even after many of the fish were removed, the stink remained.
Located in Los Angeles County, Marina del Rey is between Venice Beach and Playa del Rey, and about 4 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, according to the community’s website.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/19/dead-fish-marina-del-rey_n_5349962.html