Texas’ Brazoria and Quintana counties officials stated that thousands of fish have washed up on the beach since Friday, and thousands more are expected to wash ashore.
While the district officials warned the public not to come to the beach on their Facebook pages, they stated that the cleaning works continue and it is unclear how long the process will take, “because the shoals of thousands of dead fish continue to come to the shore”.
“The oxygen level in the water drops rapidly”
Quintana Beach County Park officials shared images of tens of thousands of different types of fish that washed up on the shore, stating that the oxygen level in the water dropped rapidly due to the extreme increase in air temperatures, which led to mass fish deaths.
Officials noted that fish kills could have a significant environmental impact as herring, which makes up the majority of stranded fish species, play a “critical role” in the region’s ecosystem.
A report published by the United Nations in 2019 concluded that the warming of ocean water threatens the fish population by increasing cases of low oxygen levels in coastal waters.
