"Unprecedented" fish kill in Jacksonville for 2 weeks "not related to annual cycle"; "Lesions in the brain… point to toxicity

[link to www.floridaoilspilllaw.com]

If you think the month-long fish kill on the St. Johns River is an annual event that just came early this year — think again.

That’s the message that two men with close ties to the river want you to know. …

“This kill is unprecedented,” he said. He explained that fish kills due to low oxygen levels are typically confined to smaller areas, not as widespread as the problem has become. …

He said they found lesions in the brains of some redfish. “I’m not sure what else,” White said.

That, White says, points to toxicity. …

White said that he’s received reports from the area of the Rudder Club — adjacent to the Buckman Bridge — of water birds that mainly eat small fish regurgitating stomach contents. …

Regardless of the results of the tissue sampling, White said that the prognosis isn’t something the public is going to want to hear.

“There will be no quick or easy solution” to whatever is happening. Identifying the problem isn’t likely to make it go away.



[link to www.palmbeachpost.com]
Why Jacksonville? See: Palm Beach Post: Oil slick almost certain to ride current

In one experiment, a buoy dropped in the Gulf made its way via the Loop [Current]… recalled George Maul, the head of the Department of Marine Environmental Systems at the Florida Institute of Technology… [The buoy] shot straight to Jacksonville.



[link to www.floridaoilspilllaw.com]
See also: USF Dean says oil “within a few miles of the Jacksonville” coast

“Some of the tar balls may start showing up on the east coast as far as Jacksonville,” Bill Hogarth, dean of the College of Marine Science at USF, told members of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in a telephone conference call.


[link to www.floridaoilspilllaw.com]
And: Baby Whale Beaches Self (near Jacksonville)

“Infections and toxins are going to be the big killers of these animals,” [Dr. Michael] Walsh said.

Last Edited by Sludge on 06/27/2010 12:02 PM