More dead fish reported : Desert Shores, California

Once again we have a case of fish die-offs. This one seems a little different in that an unknown substance appears to have been found with the fish (possiblly manure and feathers)

State agency to probe Salton Sea fish kill

Residents say manure dump may be culprit, but experts downplay significance of die-off

www.mydesert.com...

Desert Shores — Seasonal fish die-offs are nothing new at the Salton Sea, but the unusual timing of thousands of dead tilapia washing up this week on the sea's western shore has a state agency investigating.

Die-offs usually occur in the summer, when algae blooms suck the oxygen out of the water, or sometimes in the winter, if the water is extremely cold — which it's not right now.

Gayle and Tyrone Schwartz, who live in a mobile home overlooking a small cliff above the sea, said an odd-looking mixture of manure and feathers coated the water, accompanying the dead fish to the shore

“It looked like somebody dumped something after cleaning out their coops,” Gayle Schwartz said. “It was a greeny, goldy muck that looked like manure.”

aquafornia.com...

So what do we have here ATS.....A normal case of fish die-offs due to natural causes, death due to pollution, or something else?

Very interesting. We def shouldn't be dumping manure or anything else for that matter into the oceans where there is a whole other world trying to survive.

It's news to me that anything even lived in that place. I've picked up produce from Coachella north of there and then down along the Western shore of the Salton Sea to get to Yuma and Nogales for years and that water has always smelled like rot to me. Going by the ocean, it's a salty smell....kinda pleasant. Driving by this when the wind was blowing the wrong way was just rank...and that, usually from a mile or more up from the water line along the highway.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the salt level and temps alone made for a near fatal environment, like they say in the article. Then someone raising chickens or whatever the feathers came from dumped their stuff and threw it into the fatal range. Ooops... I'll bet the investigate that half to death, being Southern California. Whoever did it is in serious trouble with many 0's on the end if they figure that out.


For general information...this isn't a Sea at all, but a giant lake south of Palm Springs, Ca. It's in the middle of the desert between I-10 and I-8.

I wonder why people would dump manure when you can compost it and use it for something useful?

reply to post by isyeye


I've noticed that there's no seagulls etc feeding on the fish, that makes me think there's not a natural cause of death, but rather something toxic in them.
You would think there would be a feeding frenzie if this was "free fresh meat" just laying there up for grabs?
Just my two cents