Canberra, Australia, Associated Press – March 18, 2023 / 8:35 a.m. | History: 416769
Photo: Facebook – Graeme McCrob
A screenshot from a video of a mass fish kill in Menindee, New South Wales, Australia.
Millions of dead fish have washed up in southeast Australia in what officials and scientists say is the result of flooding and hot weather.
The New South Wales state Department of Primary Industries said the fish kill coincided with a heatwave that has put pressure on a system that has experienced extreme conditions with widespread flooding.
Deaths can occur due to low oxygen levels as floodwaters recede, a situation made worse by warmer weather as fish need more oxygen, the department said.
Residents of the town of Menindee complained of the terrible stench of dead fish.
“We started cleaning up and then this happened, and it’s like you’re walking in a dried-up mess and then you smell this rotten smell. It’s horrible to see all the dead fish and it smells horrible,” said local resident John Denning. .
Nature photographer Geoff Looney spotted large groups of dead fish near the main dam in Menindee on Thursday night.
“The stench was horrible. I almost had to wear a mask,” Looney said. “I was worried about my own health. The water from above reaches the pumping station in our town. The people of northern Menindee say that fish and perch float down the river everywhere.”
Mass murders have been reported along the Darling-Baka River in recent weeks. Tens of thousands of fish were found in the same location in late February, while there were several reports of dead fish downriver towards Poonkari, near the borders of South Australia and the states of Victoria.
A severe drought in late 2018 and early 2019 killed large numbers of fish in the Menindee River, with local residents estimating the deaths in the millions.
