Major Fish Kill in Bayou Chaland

This is not a country side road. It is thousands of dead fish and other aquatic life.

 

This time of year fish kills aren't that uncommon. Due to heat, oxygen levels lower and fish die. A usual fish kill will involve a few species at a time, but the Plaquemines Parrish fish kill includes a wide variety of species including redfish, drum, trout, flounder, crabs, stingray, eel and even a baby whale. Areas around the Gulf Coast are often riddled with low oxygen levels but a fish kill this large is very rare.  Billy Nungesser, the Parish President, released images of a local waterway full of dead fish. Bayou Chaland now looks more like a gravel road than a once healthy fishery.
Nungesser wants to understand what is going on in his Parish; he has requested that EPA and NOAA investigate. In the meantime, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries looked into the matter on Friday. In a statement sent to Eyewitness News, Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson Olivia Watkins said:
"It was the result of low levels of dissolved oxygen. This particular body of water becomes isolated during periods of low tide.... low tide kept the fish trapped in the body of water without access to the Gulf, limiting the available dissolved oxygen and killing the fish."
The cause of low oxygen levels is yet to be determined, but because of the recent oil spill in the near by Gulf many fingers are pointed at BP.
"We can't continue to see these fish kills," said Nungesser. "We need some additional tests to find out why these fish are dying in large numbers. If it is low oxygen, we need to identify the cause."