Thousands of dead fish wash up on Texas shore due to low water oxygen
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The Gulf Coast waters in the US are becoming warmer due to the climate crisis which may have been a contributing factor to the occurrence.
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Dead fish are shown on the shores of Quintana Beach in Texas, US, on June 12, 2023 (Quintana Beach County Park / Handout)
After temperatures rose to 33 degrees Celsius (92 degrees Fahrenheit), thousands of fish were found dead on the shore of Quintana Beach in Brazoria County in Texas.
After an investigation was launched by officials, it was found that the cause was "a low dissolved oxygen event" as said by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Kills and Spills Team statement on Facebook from the Quintana Beach County Park.
The statement read: "The species most impacted was Gulf menhaden. Fish kills like this are common in the summer when temperatures increase. If there isn't enough oxygen in the water, fish can't 'breathe.' Low dissolved oxygen in many cases is a natural occurrence."
Texas Gulf Coast beach covered as thousands of dead Menhaden fish wash ashore https://t.co/qUBRfnCeAW
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 11, 2023
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added that "Gulf menhaden have the largest fishery yield in the Gulf of Mexico and support the second largest fishery by weight in the United States".
According to the sea life facility manager at Texas A&M University at Galveston, Katie St. Clair, the waters of the Gulf Coast are increasingly becoming warmer due to the climate crisis which may have been a contributing factor to the occurrence.
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"As we see increased water temperatures, certainly this could lead to more of these events occurring, especially in our shallow, near-shore or inshore environments," St. Clair told the New York Times on Sunday.
Axios' Andrew Freedman stressed that the North Atlantic basin, which includes the Gulf, is witnessing a record warm temperature, especially this time of year, which is unusual. Even hurricane forecasters are expressing urgent concern.
Per the Quintana Beach County Park Facebook post, the beach was "cleared with the exception of a spattering of fish that the machinery couldn't get" as of Sunday. "High tides over the next couple of days should sift the rest down into the sand and bury them."
A massive amount of dead fish have been washing up on the shores of the world from the US to Europe and all the way to Australia as a result of the human-driven climate crisis.
Back in March, millions of dead and rotting fish clogged a river near a rural town in Australia's outback. "These fish deaths are related to low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) as flood waters recede," the government said in a statement.
"The current hot weather in the region is also exacerbating hypoxia, as warmer water holds less oxygen than cold water, and fish have higher oxygen needs at warmer temperatures," the statement added.
