Posted on 03/04/2006 5:02:14 PM PST by blam
Mysterious Fish 'Party' Near N.C. Shore
By The Associated Press
posted: 27 February 2006
11:38 am ET
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP)—State and local wildlife experts are trying to figure out what led more than a thousand flounder, spot and pin fish to beach themselves at the Marine Corps' New River air base—and then swim away. They believe it may be related to a popular phenomenon known in coastal Alabama as "jubilee.''
The fish surfaced in shallow water Friday morning. They were lethargic, but alive.
"It's kind of strange,'' said Mike Sanderford, New River Riverkeeper. "It's a bunch of fish up here, but they're not dead. They're almost docile.''
When he arrived, Sanderford said, the fish were lying in shallow water and allowed him to touch them before they swam away.
Representatives of the Division of Water Quality, N.C. Marine Fisheries and N.C. Marine Patrol checked on the fish along the air station's shoreline Friday morning. One expert estimated about 1,000 to 1,500 were crowded in the waterline.
But by afternoon, they were gone. The timing matched another oddity: the water's oxygen level, which veered from one extreme to the other.
"We measured the oxygen levels in the water this morning and they were very low,'' said Stephanie Garrett, environmental technician with DWQ. "Then two and a half hours later, they were high.''
She said that might be a clue that the area saw a case of the "jubilee'' phenomenon, in which thousands of live, healthy fish beach themselves.
Scientists know that a jubilee occurs when variety of factors deoxygenate the water, forcing fish to the shore.
Jubilees occur in a number of places, but nowhere as often and as regularly as on Mobile Bay's eastern shore. Jubilees usually occur during the summer, providing a free feast to locals who head to shore to gather the fish up.
"It's normal to them, they all know the conditions that are needed and go down with gigs to get the flounder,'' said Bianca Klein, biologist at the Air Station. "It's definitely a rarity here, though.''
Only about 50 fish died, and that may not have been from natural causes.
"The flounder that were dead were the big ones,'' Sanderford said. "We're guessing someone came out here early this morning and started to pick out the biggest ones to take home for dinner, but wondered why they were beached and thought something might be wrong with them.''
Dozens of Whales Die in Mass Beaching
Do flounders have soles?
Jubilee is the name used locally for a natural phenomenon that occurs from time to time on the shores of Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA. During a jubilee, blue crabs, shrimp and fish swarm toward the shore in such numbers that the shallow water near land seems to boil with life. People living near the shore rush down to the water with washtubs, gigs and nets, and gather a bountiful -- and easily reaped -- harvest of seafood. As jubilees only happen on warm summer nights, often in the early pre-dawn hours, the event takes on the aspect of a joyous community beach party.
No one knows what causes a jubilee. One theory revolves around oxygen depletion caused by decay of organic material settling on the bottom of the bay, a process that is accelerated during the summer. Coupled with certain climatic conditions, this is believed to drive the crabs, shrimp and fish (particularly the bottom dwelling ones) toward the shore in a desperate search for more oxygen-rich water.
Jubilees cannot be predicted with certainty. Local folklore offers some clues for telling when one might be in the offing: The water is calm the day before and during the event itself, the wind is gentle and blowing from the east, the tide is rising, and the sky is cloudy or overcast. Not all of these conditions must be present before a jubilee can occur, though, nor does the presence of all of them at once guarantee a jubilee. To the residents of Mobile Bay's eastern and western shores, the jubilee remains as a mysterious -- and most welcomed -- gift from nature.
(The I-10 highway across Mobile Bay is named The Jubilee Bayway)
No, just skates.
Touché!
Well, someone with some sense began calling it "Jubilee" probably because it's the maritime equivalent of the Biblical "Year of Jubilee" -- lots of good, free stuff, debt forgiven, etc. That'd be my guess, anyway.
The ones I got in on were in the summer after a hot day with little or no wind and they happened right at sunrise. Between crabs and flounder it was easy to fill a basket but the jubilee doesn't last very long.
If a friend in Fairhope calls you in Mobile to tell you there's a jubilee, you better step on it because chances are it will be over or just coming to and end by the time you get there (voice of experience). From what I've heard, jubilees have been a part of life in Fairhope for a very long time.
Maybe they wanted to enlist.
It took 10 posts for someone to say----Bush's fault!
perhaps of cryptobiological interest?
Twenty sunfish and crappies tragically died of natural causes in my neck of the woods today as well (if suffocating on the ice after being pulled up through a hole is considered "natural causes"). They're resting in peace in my dad's freezer now.
NC bump. Never heard of anything like this.
L
The water temperature should've been waaay too low for a "normal" low-oxygen event. Something is fishy here.
The "experts" are clueless on this thing, or the reporters cannot describe the conditions and theories adequately.
Yum!! Flounder is my favorite fish!
Your name is Flounder, and your name is Pinto! Knowledge is good! Go Faber!
Same thing happened to my brother a few years back off
High Island, Texas. After fishing a mile off shore and
catching nothing they returned to the beach only to find
speckled trout, red drum, flounder and stingray wallowing right on the beach. Loaded the ice chests with dip nets in ankle deep water. My brother gave them away to the other fishermen since he also thought there may be disease. He
checked with the local unuversity and they confirmed that
is was an unusual but normal occurance.
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