Two Million Spot Dead in Chesapeake Bay Fish Kill
The Maryland Department of the Environment is investigating the fish kill and says that cold water stress intensified by a large population of spot three to six inches in length appear to be the cause. Adult spot winter outside the Bay but juvenile spot often stay in inshore waters throughout the year and are susceptible to cold water kills.
An initially mild winter might have trapped an unusually large population of small spot in the Bay when a sudden decrease in water temperatures caused their deaths. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Bay program reports that this past December was the coldest in 25 years.
Recent Maryland DNR surveys have reported a very strong population of spot in the Bay. The state believes that an increased juvenile population without deep water access was trapped by the cold.
Massive cold kills of spot have occurred at least twice before in the Chesapeake Bay area, including a kill of about 15 million spot in 1976 and a smaller kill of spot in 1980.
Published by Jeffrey Weeks
Jeffrey Weeks is an award-winning NC newspaper columnist who writes about saltwater and freshwater fishing, southern seafood and cooking, hunting, popular entertainment, and sports. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a Commentterrible event
Wow, I wonder what is up with all the fish and birds. Great reporting Jeffrey!
There seem to be a lot of these mass kills lately. I hadn't heard of this one.
good report
Great article! I just don't know what to think.
Many say these events have all happened before, without all the publicity. I wonder if we aren't being treated to another "environmental scare" for naturally occurirng events. Just saying...Good report, Jeffrey!
Strange that so many birds and fish are dying in massive amounts. cheers :)
Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing this, I hate it when nature takes a hit..but it happens.
Oh, when I first read the title, I thought you meant that 2 million people spotted the dead fish. ;)
Wow, it never occurred to me that fish could be trapped by changing weather like this.