EUCLID, Ohio (WJW) — Video sent by a FOX 8 viewer shows thousands of dead fish found washed up on the shoreline of Lake Erie at Sims Park.
Kelly Hart told affiliate FOX 8 News the dead fish were seen Friday along a mile stretch of shoreline at the Euclid park.
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(Courtesy of Kelly Hart) -
(Courtesy of Kelly Hart) -
(WJW photo)
“The residents are really concerned. I talked to the park maintenance man, and he’s never seen anything like it,” Hart wrote in an email. “The sight is pretty scary because the park patrons are unsure if this is a natural phenomenon, or if there is something serious going on with the lake.”
It’s a natural occurrence, usually happening in summer, but it’s not expected to impact the overall fish population, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources told FOX 8 News’ Tino Bovenzi.
The department has received numerous recent reports of dead or dying freshwater drum — also called “sheepshead” — from Euclid to Bratenahl and as far as Geneva.
It’s likely due to low oxygen in the lake, said Ann Marie Gorman, the fisheries biology supervisor at the department’s Fairport Fisheries Research Station in Fairport Harbor. The phenomenon, called hypoxic upwelling, is believed to have been caused by the strong winds that swept through the region on Thursday, Gorman wrote in an email.
Strong winds can force water with less oxygen to the shore, according to ODNR. Lake Erie fish are then forced closer to the shoreline to avoid that oxygen-depleted water. If they’re unable to escape, they suffocate and are often found dead along the shore.
Water temperature and dissolved oxygen forecasts from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science show low oxygen levels along portions of the shoreline.
Such fish kills due to low-oxygen conditions have become more common in recent years, according to ODNR, and conditions that lead to them are present every summer.
Beachgoers may notice a “slight or even strong” odor of decomposition, related to Thursday’s winds, according to ODNR. But before long, scavengers like herons, bald eagles and raccoons will help clean up.
