Oct 7
2011
Millions of sardines floated to the surface at Redondo Beach's King Harbor in March 2011. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
By Melissa Pamer Staff Writer
For nearly six years, USC researchers have been studying coastal waters in Redondo Beach, waiting for an event like the one in March that left some 170 tons of dead sardines stinking up King Harbor.
As the fish kill generated global media attention and much speculation about its causes, scientists from David Caron’s lab at USC were already at work examining the evidence.
They parsed data from underwater sensors installed in the harbor in 2006 after another big fish kill the previous year. On Friday night, Caron will present their findings during a free event at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro.
There won’t be any jaw-dropping revelations. The explanation is very similar to that offered by Caron and other scientists in the immediate aftermath of the fish kill.
“What happened there was a low-oxygen event,” said Caron, a professor of biological sciences.
As hypothesized at the time, millions of fish swarmed into the harbor and used up all the available oxygen, essentially suffocating. It’s not really clear what drove them into the harbor.
There’s evidence from the sensors and other oceanographic data that an upwelling of cold ocean water from the deep had flowed into the marinas, lowering oxygen levels by nearly half in weeks before the fish kill, Caron said.
Read the rest of the story from the Torrance Daily Breeze.
Apr 1
2011
photo © 2000 Robin | more info (via: Wylio)
Associated Press
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ 03.31.11
LOS ANGELES — Three weeks after a huge fish die-off in Southern California, officials have a body count but still can’t say what drove 175 tons of sardines into a marina.
Dave Caron, professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California, said Thursday that as many as 2.5 million sardines blanketed the surface and floor of King Harbor Marina.
Read the rest of the story here.
Mar 10
2011
March 9, 2011
The effort to rid King Harbor of millions of dead fish before they start to decay had the look of a lab experiment Wednesday.
Boats trawled slowly through the Redondo Beach marina, dragging nets behind them to capture fish from a thick layer of carcasses deposited on the harbor bottom.
Volunteers wearing rubber gloves went from slip to slip scooping floating clusters of sardines with fishing nets and plucking individual, hot-dog sized fish from the water.
Firefighters aimed a hose at the harbor bottom to try to agitate the fish for a diver to capture. And a sewer vacuum truck was converted to suck fish from the water with a long plastic hose that had the look of an elephant’s trunk.
Redondo Beach officials said it will take several days and cost at least $100,000 to clean up King Harbor after the sudden fish die-off that began Monday evening.
Read the rest of the story here.
Mar 10
2011
By Larry Altman, Torrance Daily Breeze Staff Writer
March 9, 2011
Millions of sardines created a massive stink and an even bigger cleanup effort in Redondo Beach’s King Harbor Marina on Tuesday after they swam inside overnight, became trapped and died.
Millions of sardines suffocated Tuesday night during windy storm that altered currents trapping them in King Harbor Marina where there was not enough oxygen in the water to sustain them. Photo by Brad Graverson.
Twelve to 18 inches of dead sardines blanketed the water’s bottom in Basin 1 off Marina Way. Another thick layer of dead fish coated the surface from the breakwall to the inner docks, surrounding boats and walkways.
Authorities with the California Department of Fish and Game, along with other ocean biologists at the scene, declared the mass death a natural event. The fish, they said, sucked every drop of oxygen from the water and couldn’t breathe.
“They are in every slip and every dock,” said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. “It’s a whole lot of fish.”
Hughan said authorities believe the huge school of sardines, perhaps blown in by the night’s 40-mph winds and crashing waves, swam into King Harbor and became disoriented.
Those who chose other basins were fine, but the schools that headed into Basin 1 “backed themselves into a corner” and were unable to find their way out, he said.
Read the rest of the story here.
