In the third massive fish kill in the region since 2018, the government of New South Wales reported that “millions” of fish had perished in the Darling River near the small town of Menindee.
As a scorching heatwave sweeps through the region, millions of rotting fish have clogged a large river near a remote town in the Australian outback.
Social media videos showed boats cutting through a layer of dead fish that covered the water, making the surface barely visible below.
In the third massive fish kill in the region since 2018, the New South Wales government reported on Friday that “millions” of fish had perished in the Darling River near the small town of Menindee.
“It’s horrendous truly, there’s dead fish as may be obvious,” Menindee neighborhood Graeme McCrabb told AFP.
He added, “It’s surreal to comprehend,” and that the fish kill this year appeared to be worse than in previous years.
“The ecological effect is unimaginable.”
According to the state government, the most recent floods had led to a boom in the river’s populations of fish like bony herring and carp. However, as the floodwaters receded, large numbers of these fish were dying off.
According to a statement released by the government, “these fish deaths are related to low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) as flood waters recede.”
“The region’s current hot weather is also making hypoxia worse because warm water holds less oxygen than cold water, and fish need more oxygen at higher temperatures.”
A toxic algal bloom that extended over 40 kilometers (24 miles) and a lack of water in the river as a result of prolonged drought have been blamed for previous fish kills at Menindee, which is approximately 12 hours west of Sydney.
In 2019, the NSW government issued a warning, “Unfortunately this will not be the last.”
Cameron Lay, spokesman for the state government’s fisheries department, described the river’s chokehold of dead fish as “confronting.”
He stated to the ABC, “We are seeing tens of kilometers where there are fish really as far as the eye can see,” describing the scene as “quite a confronting scene.”
There are approximately 500 people living in Menindee, which has been devastated by flooding and drought in recent years.
