Authorities are urging beachgoers to avoid a Texas beach after thousands of dead fish began washing ashore on Friday. The mass fish die-off, known as a “fish kill,” occurred on a Gulf Coast beach approximately 65 miles south of Houston.
According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, the cause was low dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Such conditions are common in the summer when higher temperatures reduce the oxygen available for fish to “breathe” underwater.
The majority of the dead fish were Gulf menhaden, a species frequently used as bait. These fish washed ashore in the thousands, and video footage captured the grim sight of countless fish carcasses floating on the surface at Bryan Beach.
Officials from Quintana Beach County Park have advised swimmers to stay away from the coast, warning of high bacterial levels and the potential hazards posed by the sharp fins of the dead fish.
“Our recommendation is that you avoid the beach altogether until this event is over,” officials stated on Facebook. “We strongly advise against entering the water.”
Cleanup efforts commenced on Friday and were completed by Sunday, with the final remnants of fish, which had deteriorated into “shredded skeletons,” being washed onto the shore.
Despite the cleanup, local authorities recommended that visitors wait a few days before returning to the beach.
Water samples taken from the Gulf Intracoastal Canal and the Brazos River, both of which feed into the coastal area, revealed nearly no dissolved oxygen, according to local officials.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Kills and Spills Team explained that low dissolved oxygen levels in water are a “natural occurrence” linked to the processes of photosynthesis and aerobic respiration.
“Increased dissolved oxygen during the day is a result of photosynthesis, which is driven by sunlight.
Photosynthesis stops at night and may slow down on cloudy days, but plants and animals in the water continue to respire and consume free oxygen, decreasing the dissolved oxygen concentration,” the department noted in a statement.
They added that fish often exhibit distress before a mass die-off by surfacing to gulp for oxygen, particularly in the early morning.
Officials from Quintana Beach County Park confirmed that there was no evidence of a chemical spill contributing to the mass fish kill.
