October 7, 2013 — State Water Quality officer Bert Simons estimated that fish in the Neuse River have been dying for two and a half weeks now, while Coastal Carolina River Watch’s Rick Dove says he’s been fielding calls since at least Oct. 2, when they started washing up at Carolina Pines.
As of Sunday, thousands of dead menhaden were washing up along New Bern’s shores while the strong odor of their rotting carcasses could be smelled downtown. The same thing is happening along the Pamlico River, Simons said, and it’s a kill that residents can expect to see continue for at least another two weeks.
“The fish kill is just going on day after day,” Dove said. As to the size of the kill, he said, “Nobody’s out there doing a count that I know of,” but based on his experience, Dove is willing to guess that “we’re in the millions at this point. Quite possibly the tens of millions.”
Fish that are still alive “are in their death spirals,” Dove said. “You can see them everywhere.”
It is the third fish kill in four months, following on the heels of kills first reported on July 10 and Aug. 11. Dove described these kills as “moderate” in size.
The last major fish kill, in which about 200 million fish were killed, began just over a year ago on Oct. 2, 2012. That kill, Dove pointed out, took 30 days, and he expects the current one to follow a similar pattern.
Neuse Riverkeeper Lauren Wargo agreed.
“Dead fish will only float for about 48 hours, so what you see out there have just died,” she said. Wargo also described schools of fish swimming with open sores and added that the bottom of the river is littered with dead fish that have sunk.
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