Large Fish Kills

I was out in inshore waters today and saw some of the aftermath of our freeze. (Been real cold in Florida lately). Lots of fish washing up....

Some major damage to some local sea grass beds too, but they bounce right back in summer. Roots are probably still strong.

well anyway, figured I would share.

 

Bummer John, how cold has it been getting? What kind of fish are washing up? That really stinks....

 

we saw lookdowns, snappers, cardinals, a sea robin a southern puffer, lots of threadfin herring and spotted majoras (I think that is how you spell their name, that is how it sounds...), pinfish, wrasses and a parrotfish as well. All but a handful were juveniles, probably seeking shelter from predators in the mangrove shallows. There must be tens of thousands of fish in the IRL waterway, we were in a small area and saw hundreds.

we have had overnight lows below 45 for the last 10 days, with a few days in the low 30s. It was really cold in the water, we were in there all week too and it was icy. I didnt realize how bad it was though, (we get the cold here too), until I saw the fish and seagrass impact. It was pretty bad, there was a fish almost every step you took. Worse than any red tide event I witnessed, but in my area red tide isn't as much of a concern as in others. Arctic front came down and decided to stay longer than its welcome....

 

i bet it does

 

Wow that sucks. Crazy weather this year.

 

yeah i am worried about the colonies too....checked out our chiton colony only so far...almost entirely wiped out. Limpets took a major hit as well. Probably be a few years or so before those 2 get back to their original form.

I am hoping they migrated to a safer locale...too slow though I bet to do it...

 

Sorry to hear this John.
Keep us posted.

 

apparently i was mistaken about limpets and chitons. no wonder they have been around since the dinosaurs. nice sunny day today and guess who came back? guy i work with also said that the other colonies look fine today, and there were plenty of fish. I guess most things will survive, a few die and when they wash up it looks a lot because it is odd to see anything in the wash...It was by the Stuart inlet when I went out, so it was probably fish coming down from the Port Saint Lucie, the IRL on the shore and coming in from the ocean to the shores. I should get in the habit of keeping a water proof camera...

 

Glad to hear it!
Yes - please get a camera so we can see pics of your dives.

 

i tried one of those disposable underwater cameras and took pics once...they are horrible, which is kind of my thing when it comes to pics...will see if i can find one...

i am trying to get a keys trip this weekend...will get another disposable camera then.

i have a digital camera, it is pretty worthless though I can't get the yellow to turn off...

this was the result of the freeze on fishing policy:

http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater_Regulations_FishKills.htm

for inland fish they removed the bag limit so people could remove the frozen fish.