fish die-off

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Australia Struggles With Massive Fish Die-Off

Contractors have been hired to remove millions of dead fish from New South Wales river

(Newser) - Contractors are being hired to remove millions of rotting fish from a river in the Australian Outback after an unprecedented die-off following floods and hot weather, police said on Monday. The fish started dying in the Darling River near the New South Wales town of Menindee on Friday. Officials say...

This Is the Smelly Scene in SF Bay Area Right Now

A long-running algae bloom is causing a fish die-off

(Newser) - Something stinks, quite literally, in the San Francisco Bay area. Bloated fish carcasses are floating en masse on the edges of the bay and in Oakland's Lake Merritt, killed off by an algae bloom that emerged in late July. As SF Gate reports, an algae called Heterosigma akashiwo that...

Tons of Dead Fish in River: 'Most Likely Dealing With a Crime'

Poland is recruiting soldiers to help deal with 'ecological catastrophe'

(Newser) - Poland has deployed soldiers to help clean up the Oder River, which runs along the border with Germany, after 10 tons of dead fish surfaced from the waterway in what one official described as an "ecological catastrophe." An association of fishers in Zielona Gora, a city in the...

Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms
 Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms 

Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms

Reports of 'sea star wasting syndrome' get more disturbing

(Newser) - Scientists are still trying to figure out why starfish are dying in massive numbers, turning into what one taxonomist described as "goo piles." The latest news on the die-off is similarly disturbing: One biology professor studied sea stars suffering from what is being called "sea star wasting...

Something Killed 100K Fish in Nevada Marina

Officials say cold snap could be partially to blame

(Newser) - State wildlife officials are trying to figure out why all the fish have died in a northern Nevada marina where the stocked fishery has flourished since the man-made lake was created nearly 15 years ago. An estimated 100,000 trout, bass, and catfish have died over the past month in...

Californians Wonder: What's That Stench?

Smell of fish die-off may have traveled 150 miles

(Newser) - Something is rotten in the state of California: A smell like rotten eggs spread across a huge area of Southern California yesterday, prompting hundreds of 911 calls and complaints to air quality authorities, reports the LA Times . Officials initially thought a toxic spill or sewage leak could be to blame,...

In Steamy Midwest Streams, Scads of Fish Die Off

Hot, dry summer killing off thousands

(Newser) - Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as one of the hottest, driest summers in history dries up rivers and pushes water temps in some spots to nearly 100 degrees. About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon died in Iowa last week as the water temp hit 97, while Nebraska fishery...

Did Peeing Swimmers Kill 500 Fish?

Phosphates in urine linked to algae bloom

(Newser) - It's a pisser. Swimmers who pee in a lake could be responsible for the death of 500 fish. Experts believe a significant amount of urine in popular Eichbaum Lake in northern Germany is linked to an algae bloom that poisoned the fish. "Swimmers who urinate in the lake...

Dead Fish Blanket Norwegian Beach— Then Disappear

Herring appear on New Year's Eve then vanish

(Newser) - First more dead blackbirds in Arkansas, now dead herring in Norway. Tens of thousands of fish blanketed the beach in Kvaenes, a town located north of the Arctic Circle, on New Year's Eve, reports the AP . A marine researcher speculates that they were forced ashore in a bid to...

30 Tons of Dead Sardines Still in California Harbor

And that's after 50 tons have been collected in Redondo Beach

(Newser) - California officials have begun the smelly, arduous task of cleaning up the millions of sardines (previously reported as anchovies) that suddenly died in Redondo Beach, near LA. Crews have cleared 50 tons from the shallow King Harbor marina so far, but an estimated 30 tons remain, the AP reports. "...

Millions of Anchovies Wash Up Near LA

Local authorities mount cleanup before smell worsens

(Newser) - Anchovies are the latest fish to mysteriously die en masse, with millions washing ashore in the harbor of Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles. No one knows what triggered the die-off, though one theory holds that the fish, possibly evading predators, crammed into an area too small to supply enough oxygen,...

Arkansas: Here's What Officially Killed Those Birds

Findings on mass deaths released

(Newser) - Wildlife officials in Arkansas say that they still have no idea why more than 100,000 fish washed up dead along a stretch of river last year, but they have a theory on why thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky . The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission—echoing earlier findings...

Experts: Bird, Fish Die-Offs No Mystery

Similar wildlife die-offs happen all the time, 'under the radar'

(Newser) - Recent mass deaths of birds and fish around the world have been getting plenty of press, but these die-offs are nothing out of the ordinary, let alone a sign of the apocalypse, experts tell AP . Federal records show that mass wildlife die-offs happen about every other day, and experts believe...

Thousands of Turtle Doves Drop Dead in Italy

With strange blue stains on beaks

(Newser) - Thousands of turtle doves have fallen dead in the small town of Faenza in Italy, with some of them tragically caught in tree branches like "tiny Christmas balls." Many of the birds had a mysterious blue stain around their beaks, reports the Huffington Post quoting GeaPress . That could...

Birds Drop Dead in Sweden, Kentucky

40K crabs wash ashore in UK as mass die-offs stump experts

(Newser) - Birds are continuing to drop from the sky in a mounting, now global, mystery. Up to 100 jackdaws fell dead in a small town in Sweden. Investigators have roped off the area in an effort to determine what killed the birds, who showed signs of serious trauma, officials said. "...

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