Ajit Karn
Sydney, Australia: As a scorching heatwave spreads through the region, millions of dead and rotting fish have clogged a vast stretch of river near a remote town in the Australian wilderness.
Social media videos depicted vessels ploughing through a thick layer of dead fish, with the water’s surface scarcely visible beneath.
The government of New South Wales announced on Friday that “millions” of fish had perished in the Darling River near the small town of Menindee, marking the third mass fish kill in the region since 2018.
Graeme McCrabb, a resident of Menindee, told AFP, “It’s truly horrific, there are dead fish everywhere.”
“It’s incomprehensible,” he said, adding that this year’s fish slaughter appeared to be worse than in the past.
Environmental impact is incomprehensible.
According to the state government, populations of fish such as bony herring and carp had exploded in the river following recent floods, but were now dying off in large numbers as floodwaters receded.
“These fish deaths are a result of low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) caused by receding floodwaters,” the government said in a statement.
Warmer water contains less oxygen than colder water, and fish require more oxygen at higher temperatures.
Previous fish deaths at Menindee, approximately 12 hours’ travel west of Sydney, have been attributed to a lack of water in the river caused by a protracted drought and a toxic algal bloom that spanned over 40 kilometres. (24 miles).
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In 2019, the NSW government warned, “Unfortunately, this won’t be the last.”
Cameron Lay, a spokesman for the state government’s fisheries division, said it was “confronting” to see the river clogged with deceased fish.
“There are literally fish as far as the eye can see for tens of kilometers,” he told ABC. “It’s quite a shocking sight.”
In recent years, Menindee, a town with a population of approximately 500, has been devastated by both drought and inundation.
