Several thousand tiny menhaden washed up on the shore of Brush Neck Cove, in Warwick, and died. The fish were discovered Saturday morning. The state Department of Environmental Management said the fish-kill appears to be a natural occurrence. Menhaden -- 2- to 3-inch-long saltwater fish -- are commonly called "pogies" or "bunkers" in Rhode Island.
DEP investigators reportedly believe that bluefish chased the menhaden into the shallow area of the cove, between Oakland Beach and Conimicut neck, where many became trapped. "It's something we see typically around this time of year," said agency spokeswoman Gail Mastrati. Three years ago, more than a million menhaden died in Greenwich Bay; a slick of dead fish spread across Apponaug Cove. Many scientists blamed that fish-kill on a bloom of pollutant-fed algae, but at least one believed it was caused by tides, wind and weather.
1 comment:
Generally when a government flack says that a fish kill was a natural event, I start looking for the source of the pollution that caused the kill. In this case though she's probably right. Bunker kills have been recorded in our region from at least the 1600s, and Thoreau encountered one in the 1840s on Staten Island. But any fish kill that contains a multitude of species -- which this one did not -- should raise eyebrows. Here's what I wrote about it, back in July: http://thissphere.blogspot.com/2005/07/thousands-of-fish-called-marsbancken.html
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