January 11, 2013 — A wash of “hundreds of thousands” of dead Atlantic menhaden fish began to line Masonboro Island this week, according to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The agency in a press release Friday explained the menhaden “appeared to have clustered by the thousands in a narrow area at Loosins Creek, causing dissolved oxygen levels in the water to plummet to nearly zero in less than one hour, killing the fish.”
The carcasses were spread over a mile-long area along Masonboro Island’s beaches and in the water.
DENR said a member of the public first notified the N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM) about the fish kill on Wednesday.
“This situation (of such clustered menhaden) has been previously observed in winter months, and occurs when the menhaden begin to tighten their school, possibly due to the presence of predators,” DENR noted.
Read the full story a Port City Daily