Gov’t still investigating fish kill incident, climate change a factor
Construction company Bhanquest Development voluntarily cleaned the hundreds of dead fish that littered Josiah’s Bay pond.
Government said it is still investigating the cause of the major fish kill at the Josiah’s Bay pond this month.
It said preliminary water testing results have confirmed their initial theory that low oxygen levels were major factors in the incident which killed hundreds of fish and a number of crabs.
Director of the Department of Disaster Management Sharleen DaBreo believes climate change resulted in the oxygen depletion.
“Climate change is not only increasing the intensity of hurricanes but it is also resulting in low oxygen levels which is related to high water temperatures, high concentrations of fish, and perhaps most importantly, large amounts of early-blooming algae, whose growth was boosted by nutrients added to the water from runoff,” DaBreo explained.
“Climate change is happening so fast that many species are struggling to cope with the effects, as we have been seeing recently, many of them are at increased risks and the results can be very disturbing,” she added.
Government said more testing is ongoing and the results will be shared with the public.
As hundreds of dead fish and crab littered the pond, workmen from construction company Bhanquest Development voluntarily cleaned the pond not only of dead seas creatures but also decaying trees.
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The channel between the pond and the sea needs to be kept cleared at all times in order to maintain a steady flow of water into the pond. Remember that the pond is a spawning ground for those fish and crustaceans. This is the responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources & Labour, Conservation and Fisheries Department, and National Parks Trust to keep that channel cleared at all times.!!! There is no mystery here, and climate change is not the problem. It is summer and evaporation is occurring at a faster rate due to more sunny days!!.
Right,climate change,aka weather,is not the problem. During plants will deprive the water of oxygen. So clean it up and stop belly aching about climate change,aka the road to communism.
I TOTALLY agree with you on that comment @FishKillNotAMistery.
The problem Isnt no Climate change, yes its factor but the real issue is keeping the little Channel cleared, thus allowing the Pond to Breath!
The environmental folks may want to consider the possibility of red tide algae infestation. This phenomena is occurring elsewhere, including the southwestern shores of Florida as recently as last week.
I personally was vacationing in Naples, Florida where the beaches are normally beautiful; however, I was greeted with a beach of rotten fish of all sorts.
Red tide algae infestation is yet another indication of our damaged oceans as seen with these sargassum (sea weed) outbreaks.
See referenced article: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/08/03/warning-graphic-images-dead-fish-turtles-manatees-wash-up-on-southwest-florida-beaches.html
Local Floridians in that area believe its the chemicals from the Sugar Factory and the man-made blockage of Lake Okeechobee.
Something is toxic to the environment. When I saw it has happened at the pond in Josiah Bay that was my first thought. Some kind of toxin was dumped in the pond. But if we want to go with its just nature then, okay.
That may be in some areas, but the problem with that theory is that the dead fish washing ashore was not along Lake Okeechobee. Rather, it was from the Ocean.
With respect to the toxin, what the scientist are saying is this year, the red tide algae, which produces the lethal toxin to sea life is particularly high and prolonged this year.
Given that there are tributaries of Lake Okeechobee leads to the ocean, there is continuity of water, and thus any toxin in the ocean can affect the lakes as well.
They want to blame everything on Nature!!
It’s a natural occurrence, “ponds turnover” so hold off the investigation. Just reasearch it.
They need to open the pond back to the sea to refill it and rotate things. It was Omar Hodge who had the pond blocked off when he was minister of NRL. He hired W—– P—to do it. A simple reverse of the nonsense can help the pond. Look how stale and stagnant the water look. Open the Pond to the Sea to help.