D.O.E. releases findings on Crooked Tree fish kill

The Department of Environment has released its findings into the Crooked Tree fish kill. According to the report, dissolved oxygen levels were really low in Black Creek where it enters into the lagoon, south of the causeway, and in the northern section of the lagoon. Today News Five spoke with Advocacy Manager at Audubon, Tanya Williams Thompson, who said that the findings confirmed what they have been assuming all along.

Tanya Williams Thompson
“The results from the D.O.E. study show that the lowest dissolved oxygen was at zero point eight. Normally for tilapia, you need to have a minimum of two point two-five, so it was really, really low.”

“We had been saying that that was a possible cause and now we have confirmation. Low dissolved oxygen simply means that they do not have enough oxygen in the water to breathe.”

Kendra Griffith
“Do they know what caused the low dissolved oxygen at this time?”

Tanya Williams Thompson
“That is something that we don’t know right now. What we need to do is continue monitoring, perhaps for a year. There are some speculations it could be because of warmth, warmer temperatures. The water gets warmer you don’t have enough oxygen within the water, but we can’t speculate, we need to do more monitoring.”

D.O.E. has recommended that testing be done every month for one year in the Crooked Tree Lagoon, which will assist in determining the root cause for the fish deaths.