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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 6 Aug 2010
Source: WLOX.com [edited]
Another fish kill fuels debate over what's causing wildlife deaths
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In all her years walking the Pass Christian beach, [a resident] said
Thursday [5 Aug 2010] morning was different. "I've really never seen
this many seagulls. I walked this beach for about 5 years and it's
really phenomenal. It's beautiful to see, but it's unusual," said Alley.
It didn't take long to figure out what had attracted all the birds.
WLOX (Radio station for South Mississippi) saw massive dead fish on
the beach and in the water, along with crabs and sting rays.
Department of Marine Resource (DMR) officials said it was the 3rd
fish kill reported to them in recent months. DMR officials sent a
team out to take samples from a fish kill, but they said they already
had a good idea of what happened.
"When we see real warm water, which is what's happening, we have low
oxygen conditions," said Joe Jewel, DMR Assistant Director. "That's
what we're attributing to the fish kills that we're aware of right
now. Warm water, low oxygen, that's what's causing these fish kills."
Two commercial fishermen told WLOX they don't believe the heat is
enough to cause as many fish kills as we've been seeing in our area
lately. They say it's just not normal. Instead, they blame chemical
dispersants for robbing the water of oxygen.
Jewell said, "What is unusual is that we have the oil spill. We have
a lot of citizens that are concerned about the oil. They're concerned
about that relationship, but our scientists out there investigating
these fish kills and the DEQ has scientists that are out there."
"They're taking water samples and oxygen samples and what we can
determine right here at this point is that it's not related to the
oil," said Jewell.
DMR officials continued to stress that their tests show the seafood
is safe to eat and they will continue to run tests.
[Byline: Danielle Thomas]
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Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
[It is unlikely at this point in time that the oil spill or the
dispersants had anything to do with the fish kill. It is much more
likely that there is red tide, or hot water causing the problem.
While it is difficult to believe that the water temperature of the
ocean can change, it does, and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are
especially warm anyway. The Gulf region has been plagued this summer
with extremely high temperatures and the normally warm water is even
hotter than usual.
Hopefully the appropriate samples will get taken and disease will
either be ruled in or ruled out. - Mod.TG]
[see also:
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (CA) 20100805.2640
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA (02): (MN) catfish 20100804.2630
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (MN) catfish 20100731.2573
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (NC) 20100728.2532
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (PA, ID) corr. 20100718.2410
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (PA, ID) corr. 20100718.2409
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA (WA) natural causes 20100718.2408
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (HI) puffer fish 20100716.2384
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (PA, ID) 20100716.2373
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA: (MI) RFI 20100618.2056
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA (02): (WV, OH, PA) olumnaris 20100610.1946
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA: (WV, OH, PA) 20100601.1827
Undiagnosed fish die-off - USA: (NJ) koi herpesvirus susp. 20100528.1773
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (NY), viral hem. septicemia
susp. 20100519.1649]
....................sb/tg/ejp/mpp
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