Posted on 09/15/2010 4:28:36 PM PDT by chessplayer
Plaquemines Parish officials have asked state wildlife officials to investigate what they said is a massive fish kill at Bayou Chaland on the west side of the Mississippi River late Friday. A massive fish kill was reported late Friday in Plaquemines Parish at Bayou Chaland, west of the Mississippi River.
The fish kill was reported to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and the cause has not yet been determined, the parish said. The fish were found in an area that has been impacted by the oil from the BP oil spill, the parish said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
It was probably a pit bull. Let’s ask Chet99.
It wasn’t a pit bull ... geeze. Everyone knows it was Bush’s fault.
I read this AM (can’t remember where ) that apparently they were trying to flush the area with FRESH water, this cause a “bloom” that sucked the oxy. out of the water killing the fish life. I will try to fing the article.
I suggest bringing in wood chippers and produce shredded chum for the victims of the Baraqqi depression.
I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion.
from the article, near the end “A recent fish kill in nearby St. Bernard Parish was attributed to low oxygen levels in the water.” Low oxygen levels are generally attributed to high BOD - biological oxygen demand, not the presence of a surfactant/dispersant like corexit. High BOD occurs when TOO many organisms try to use dissolved O2, and those times are generally AT NIGHT when the ‘algae’ are only respiring and not photosynthesizing ... ie oxygenating the waters.
ALSO these photos I believe are purposefully misleading, as they show a collection of floating dead things at ‘end’ of an area of circulation — either from moving water/tides or winds. (bayous tend to be long, thin slow moving bodies of water with little or no tide) I would be SHOCKED if a LA Bayou could support that amount of wild life throughout its entirety. It’s just not likely or even plausible.
NET: the general cause of ‘huge’ fish kills is high overnight BOD which suffocates fish and other oxygen users. Secondly, I betcha these photos were taken of a collection of dead thing at one end of the bayou.
Thirdly, I used to live down there. Been there, seen the bayous, there’s NO WAY that many fish live throughout the length and depth of a bayou.
LASTLY - a surfactant (e.g. soap or detergent) CAN lead to suffocation of marine and littoral organisms because it dissolves the mucous layer on their various ‘gills’ and they can’t transfer gases across the membranes.
I emailed CNN about it last night,that it was out now, and how they hid this info and video.
Today they had a video of it on their website...and it is awful to see.
Bear in mind that RAIN and runoff ‘flush’ areas like this all the time. Littoral organisms can handle the change in salinity.
Now, if some yahoo tried to save the planet by not only flushing the affected areas with water, but ALSO added an oil dissolver (ie soap) to their spray (to SAVE the oiled plants) then THAT could indeed be the murder weapon.
Soaps, detergents and general surfactants KILL aquatic wildlife in two ways — (1) they can introduce high amounts of phosphates to slow moving, low mixing bodies of water (ie bayous); phosphates cause an IMMEDIATE, pretty much next-sunny-day algae bloom, followed by a next-night fish kill, and (2) they can dissolve the mucous layer on the ‘gills’ of these animal organisms, killing them via suffocation.
hmmmm.....
can you provide a hint of a link from your history? I’d like to see the extent (geographically) of the kill.
We get lots of dead fish after a particularly hard winter here in the north. Little photosynthisis going on under the ice and little to no wave action mixing oxygen into the water. If its cold enough and rivers freeze over I’ll end up with thousands of dead ones along shore stinking the place up in the spring.
Who ever thought up this stunt needs to be fired big time.
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