Over 2 million fish now dead in the Chesapeake Bay - what the hell?

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

I live in Bay country and local media is just starting to report on a massive fish kill in the Chesapeake with over 2 million fish dead. State officials are blaming it on the cold. Awful big coincidence that this happens at the same time as other huge fish and bird kills. What in the hell is going on folks?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bs-gr-fish-kill-bay-20110104,0,5624655.story#photo

[Kludge]

"Anyone wanting to report seeing dead fish can call 1-866-MDE-GOTO."

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

"Anyone wanting to report seeing dead fish can call 1-866-MDE-GOTO."

I saw some dead fish in the grocery store earlier. Guess I better get on the phone.

[oyarde]

Fairly common , winters were brutal about 76 - 79 . Winter kills happened one of those years and once after . If you want to blame someone . I suggest a global warming person : )

[muzzled dogg]

as i said in that other thread, g.m.l. and i saw tons of dead fish in the palmico sound off nc's outter banks last wk

[wizardwatson]

"Anyone wanting to report seeing dead fish can call 1-866-MDE-GOTO."

I see dead poultry!!! Oh, wait, that's birds.

[amy31416]

Isn't this stuff sometimes cyclic? Every year or so, a bunch of fish just up and die and it stinks so badly that people won't go to the restaurants downtown.

Then again, I do live by lake Erie, which has it's own historical issues with toxins.

[Bruno]

Reports from around the world captured here:

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1308605/pg1

props to teacherone

[wizardwatson]

In other news approx. 100,000 people died today from starvation related illness.

Reminds me of Dark Knight when the Joker was talking about how no one cares when things go according to plan. God causes 100K deaths per day related to starvation and no one cares, because it's "part of the plan".

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Isn't this stuff sometimes cyclic? Every year or so, a bunch of fish just up and die and it stinks so badly that people won't go to the restaurants downtown.

Then again, I do live by lake Erie, which has it's own historical issues with toxins.

Fish kills are common and in the Bay it usually occurs at least once a year for various reasons but two million is really extreme and I just find it odd that this happening in conjunction with so many other mass wildlife deaths around the world. Maybe it is nothing and my paranoia is flaring up and I just need to step away from politics and all sources of news for a couple of weeks.

[puppetmaster]

I see dead poultry!!! Oh, wait, that's birds.

that was fowl.......

[emazur]

Chesapeake Bay you say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJPYUMT94bQ

Even if dead zones aren't responsible for this particular incident, they are still a huge problem

[charrob]

I live in Bay country and local media is just starting to report on a massive fish kill in the Chesapeake with over 2 million fish dead. State officials are blaming it on the cold. Awful big coincidence that this happens at the same time as other huge fish and bird kills. What in the hell is going on folks?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bs-gr-fish-kill-bay-20110104,0,5624655.story#photo

"on the cold"? are you kidding? I've lived on or near the water my entire life- as a kid in the early 60's when winters seemed much colder than current winters- (to the point where locals drove a Volkswagon across the river on the ice) we used to ice-skate from our river out to the Chesapeake Bay all the time and i have _never_ seen dead fish in the winter. The only times there have been fish kills are in the hottest part of the summers due to an over amount of fertilizers people put on their lawns in addition to people with septic tanks that run into the creeks, which cause algae to grow profusely (algae blooms) and the oxygen is sucked out of the water. Other than that, I've never seen large fish kills. My dad still lives on the river; i need to call him to see if this is affecting him at all... totally weird because the last i heard the Chesapeake was starting to get more healthy due to more regulations against polluters... very sad to hear this... -sure seems like they're making lots of excuses (fireworks killing birds? cold weather killing fish?)- and i don't buy any of it.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030914_dead_fish_birds.html

[Bruno]

In other news approx. 100,000 people died today from starvation related illness.

Reminds me of Dark Knight when the Joker was talking about how no one cares when things go according to plan. God causes 100K deaths per day related to starvation and no one cares, because it's "part of the plan".

I'm not sure what the term is for it, but there has to be one for "don't focus on this, when you should be focusing on that." (as if you can only focus on one thing at a time, or one thing should trump all others)

Additionally, I don't believe God causes any of the deaths, but don't intend to threadjack, either.

[Acala]

Back when I lived in Chicago, Lake Michigan was plagued by massive dieoffs of a small fish called the alewife. They washed up in such numbers every summer that they used bulldozers to push them into huge, stinking piles off to the sides of the public beaches. The seasonal dieoffs were a natural phenomenon, but became a problem because the populations of the fish were so enormous due to the elimination of the large, predatory game fish like trout. Eventually the introduction of predatory salmon species into the lake dramatically reduced the alewife population.

[VBRonPaulFan]

"on the cold"? are you kidding? I've lived on or near the water my entire life- as a kid in the early 60's when winters seemed much colder than current winters- (to the point where locals drove a Volkswagon across the river on the ice) we used to ice-skate from our river out to the Chesapeake Bay all the time and i have _never_ seen dead fish in the winter. The only times there have been fish kills are in the hottest part of the summers due to an over amount of fertilizers people put on their lawns in addition to people with septic tanks that run into the creeks, which cause algae to grow profusely (algae blooms) and the oxygen is sucked out of the water. Other than that, I've never seen large fish kills. My dad still lives on the river; i need to call him to see if this is affecting him at all... totally weird because the last i heard the Chesapeake was starting to get more healthy due to more regulations against polluters... very sad to hear this... -sure seems like they're making lots of excuses (fireworks killing birds? cold weather killing fish?)- and i don't buy any of it.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030914_dead_fish_birds.html

i concur with this. i've fished a very long time, in the Chesapeake Bay as well (lived a block from it for about 6 years...) and i've never seen a major fish kill. The cold water does one of two things to fish. Either they migrate to warmer water, or their metabolism slows down and they practically hibernate. The only time you see cold water kill fish off is if they get 'shocked' by water MUCH colder than what they're currently in.

[speciallyblend]

that area is a big septic tank with military waste and local gov waste and human waste going straight into the bay on a daily basis! The fact folks swim in the area of water near va beach is insane.

[wizardwatson]

I'm not sure what the term is for it, but there has to be one for "don't focus on this, when you should be focusing on that." (as if you can only focus on one thing at a time, or one thing should trump all others)

Additionally, I don't believe God causes any of the deaths, but don't intend to threadjack, either.

I think the term is "priorities".

I was taking a cheap jab though. I know people aren't concerned (in this thread) about the animals dying vs. humans dying but are attracted from the "weirdness" factor. I get bored sometimes and like to get attention with half-baked thread posts.

[oyarde]

I'm not sure what the term is for it, but there has to be one for "don't focus on this, when you should be focusing on that." (as if you can only focus on one thing at a time, or one thing should trump all others)

Additionally, I don't believe God causes any of the deaths, but don't intend to threadjack, either.

I do not think God causes the deaths as well.

[oyarde]

"on the cold"? are you kidding? I've lived on or near the water my entire life- as a kid in the early 60's when winters seemed much colder than current winters- (to the point where locals drove a Volkswagon across the river on the ice) we used to ice-skate from our river out to the Chesapeake Bay all the time and i have _never_ seen dead fish in the winter. The only times there have been fish kills are in the hottest part of the summers due to an over amount of fertilizers people put on their lawns in addition to people with septic tanks that run into the creeks, which cause algae to grow profusely (algae blooms) and the oxygen is sucked out of the water. Other than that, I've never seen large fish kills. My dad still lives on the river; i need to call him to see if this is affecting him at all... totally weird because the last i heard the Chesapeake was starting to get more healthy due to more regulations against polluters... very sad to hear this... -sure seems like they're making lots of excuses (fireworks killing birds? cold weather killing fish?)- and i don't buy any of it.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030914_dead_fish_birds.html

Early 1976 , scientists claim 15 million die off of same species of fish due to cold , again in 1980 , but smaller number . Looks like it is natural , with a history .

[oyarde]

i concur with this. i've fished a very long time, in the Chesapeake Bay as well (lived a block from it for about 6 years...) and i've never seen a major fish kill. The cold water does one of two things to fish. Either they migrate to warmer water, or their metabolism slows down and they practically hibernate. The only time you see cold water kill fish off is if they get 'shocked' by water MUCH colder than what they're currently in.

Last winter kills were 1976 & 1980 . Dec was way below avg temps this year . Makes sense to me I guess ...