1000’s dead baby fish wash ashore S of Cuba, “rare in Cayman Islands”; Seaweed shelter soaked w/oil

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gKivpx-OeL7ol1IorhBQPQME0KDw


1000’s of baby fish wash ashore dead south of Cuba, “rare in Cayman Islands”; Seaweed used for shelter now soaked with oil
Thousands of tiny fish wash ashore in Cayman Islands; officials unsure of cause, Associated Press, June 24, 2010:



CNS
Thousands of tiny speckled fish have washed up on the shores of the Cayman Islands, befuddling environmental officials who say they don’t know what caused the die-off. The fish were found Wednesday scattered across Seven Mile Beach on the western shore of Grand Cayman Island, which lies in the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba. John Bothwell, senior research officer at the Department of Environment, said… “Honestly, we don’t know what might have caused it”…

He added that he believes the dead fish are white spotted filefish…White spotted filefish are rare in the Cayman Islands, Bothwell said. In the past, people used their skin as sandpaper.

DoE investigates mystery of dead fish Cayman News Service, June 25, 2010:
http://www.caymannewsservice.com/science-and-nature/2010/06/25/doe-investigates-mystery-dead-fish



CNS
The cause of a large number of dead juvenile fish along the waterline on Seven Mile Beach is unknown, according to the Department of Environment, and appears to be confined to a single species. The fish, which were reported to the DoE Wednesday 23 June, appeared to all be filefish fry about 2-3cm long…Sample fish were taken and have been preserved for possible future examination. The Department has also posted a request for information on possible causes and assistance with identification of the species on the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute.

Filefish under sargassum mat, Alabama Press-Register, June 5, 2010:

(snip)

this is where the fish live

and he said that a LOT of the gulf sea life has fled the region, and the ones that did not, are dead or dying. It's very possible that those little dead fish are fry that needed to stay in a certain area, and once away from it, could not survive..maybe water temp, or specific food source was not where they ended up..

get thee out of harm's way and don't return until it's safe. i'll prolly be dead by then.

and will open them up to new predators:(

being pushed out means they're open to all sorts of threats...predators, uncertain resources.

Seaweed SOAKED with OIL but “befudded" environmental officials say "Honestly, we don’t know what might have caused it”…
:grr:

The little fishies protected by the sargassum that BP's henchmen are BURNING, before wildlife rescue teams can gather it up

This planet is screwed

:eyes:

:argh:

the oil." lord no -- that would be jumping to conclusions. fish die all the time. whales beach all the time. dolphins swim onto the beach crying, and die all the time.

:mad:

:kick:

just puttering around near the surface...they're silly. I think I thought a file fish was a diff species.