Dozens of bald eagles drawn to Lake Traverse by "extreme, crazy" fish kill, DNR says
LAKE TRAVERSE, Minn. — Dozens of bald eagles have been spotted along Lake Traverse in western Minnesota over the last few days.
"I was really shocked to see exactly how many there were," said photographer Carol Bauer. "This has got to be close to 100. It's just unreal."
Wildlife experts with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources say perfect weather conditions this winter created a massive fish kill that the birds are now taking advantage of.
"This nice winter — a lot of sunshine, not much cold weather, we had really thin ice on the lake, which is kind of like a greenhouse. And we had pretty clear water in the lake, so you end up with the algae doing really well in the winter in a lake when you have these kinds of conditions," said Chris Domeier, the Ortonville area fisheries supervisor with the DNR.
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He said that added photosynthesis allows oxygen levels to rise to a point that's fatal for the fish, giving them what's called gas bubble disease.
"It was just one of those extreme, crazy things you see in nature. Like I said, I've been doing this 35 years. I've seen a lot of high oxygen, but I've never seen this happen," Domeier said.
Wildlife experts say the fish are safe to eat, and the birds are just stocking up getting ready to feed their babies that are about to hatch. And that means more photogenic opportunities for Bauer and her grand-babies.
"They're used to riding along with grandma looking for eagles or deer, rainbows, sunrises, sunsets. It's kind of our thing," Bauer said.