Several hundred fish were found dead near Ponte Verde Beach, Florida between April 14 and April 18. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is still unsure of what could be the most probably cause for the bizarre event. Earlier this year, a similar incident occurred, but the deaths were attributed to the unusually cold weather during the winter and was not isolated to just Ponte Verde Beach and it's surrounding inland water reservoirs. The spokesperson for the Conservation Commission stated that it could be a low level of dissolved oxygen. She then went on to say that determining the cause of the lowered DO levels would be quite a daunting task since there could be a variety of reasons. Some examples could be heavy rain, which has not occurred in the area recently, or stirring of the bottom sediments. The stirring could stimulate the decomposition of organic matter in the water by bacteria that has now surfaced, which would deplete the dissolved oxygen.
http://staugustine.com/news/2010-04-26/pv-fish-kills-mystery-authorities
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Isn't it a little strange to blame low oxygen levels in the water and cold temperatures for the fish deaths since more oxygen can be dissolved in water at lower temperatures?
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