Thousands of Dead Fish Line Jersey Shore

[Jeffish]

Tens of thousands of dead fish are lining the Jersey Shore -- as far as the eye can see -- beginning at High’s Beach along the Delaware Bay in Middle Township Wednesday.

“Once you figured out what it was, the smell hit you,” Flavia Scotto of Burlington, N.J. said about the bizarre fish kill.

Believed to be peanut bunker fish -- a bait fish -- each measures about three-inches long and they all appear to be the same species.

“It looked like a foam coming in and then I said, ‘Oh, a few fish,’  then, ‘No!  It’s all fish,’” Christine Cummings said about her 7 a.m. walk on the beach Wednesday.

The thousands of stinky corpses washed up over night, as there was no sign of them Tuesday.

“It’s scary,” Cummings said. “We were swimming in this since last week and it was wonderful. Nice and clean.”

The N.J. Department of Environmental Protection has launched an investigation into the kill. Officials say initial water tests show no sign of toxic phytoplankton like red tide. They are still measuring oxygen levels.

While the DEP investigates, area residents and renters wait to see what explanation officials will have for them. But until then, they must hold their noses.

 

Quoted from here

[Hotrod]

Wow...

[Jeffish]

People are saying it's from the oil, but then other people are saying the oil can't be up here yet cause of the way the gulf stream is. Others are blaming it on "algal blooms", but not red tides.

Definition of Algal Blooms here.

[SurfJockey]

 

[Pfishingruven]

That sucks!

 

[Capt. Carl]

how bout a big ass school of weakfish pushed them all up on the beach?
ooops....no weakfish around anymore. Must have been Bluefish then.

[gottog]

I remember bunker fish-kills from the past. Ain't no big thing. Fish get in shallows, warms up, no oxygen, they die.  Free buffet for crabs, fish, birds, etc.

[hiking]

 

[bayonne]

raritan bay gets big bunker kills usally adults thoug not peanuts hope it doesnt hert next years run

[hareball]

If little johnny jumped off the bridge would you?!?

[Big Country 08]

Any bunker boats working the area in the last few days?  I have seen this down south in the Chesepeake Bay.  A bunker boat will rip it's net and tons of bunker spill out and the fish corpses fill the beach similiar to this photo.

Country

[Art Berkman]

I heard the smell is worst then a bad date !

[Hunter 2]

This does happen every season in the Raritan,, 

[Luna Sea 5]

 

[Greg7]

"they" were saying that if it were from normal causes the seagulls would feast on them but apparently the birds and whatnot aren't touching them.

[gottog]

Saw an update that confirmed it was a natural occurrence. Too many fish, too little oxygen.

[Greg7]