The news is filled with the "fish kill" that happened during the night in King Harbor's Marina by the Redondo Beach pier. I live only a two blocks from the marina so I was startled to hear on NPR today that millions upon millions of sardines somehow got trapped and died. Since then I've seen it on local news stations and on CNN.
This excerpts below in red are from an online story from the South Bay Daily Breeze tonight and the photo is by Brad Graverson of the Breeze. I had a dinner to attend after work and it's dark now so I don't want to walk down and see it for myself until tomorrow.
The sardines are floating wall to wall on top of the marina's water. The story is worth clicking on, but here are a few excerpts:
"Twelve to 18 inches of dead sardines blanketed the water's bottom in Basin 1 off Marina Way. Another thick layer of dead fish coated the surface from the breakwall to the inner docks, surrounding boats and walkways.
Authorities with the California Department of Fish and Game, along with other ocean biologists at the scene, declared the mass death a natural event. The fish, they said, sucked every drop of oxygen from
Billions of sardines suffocated Tuesday night during windy storm that altered currents trapping them in King Harbor Marina where there was not enough oxygen in the water to sustain them. Redondo Beach city workers and lifeguards all gathered to scoop up the dead fish. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
the water and couldn't breathe.
"They are in every slip and every dock," said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. "It's a whole lot of fish."
Hughan said authorities believe the huge school of sardines, perhaps blown in by the night's 40-mph winds and crashing waves, swam into King Harbor and became disoriented."
It seems remarkable to me that I could see this myself if I walked 10 minutes from home, but I guess I'll catch wind of it eventually, or so we are told.
Have any of you experienced anything like this? It is really sad.
