Odd-looking paddle boat key to Lake Merritt water quality
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- Lake Merritt in Oakland has been hit hard by the recent red tide algae bloom and, for days, cleanup crews have been picking up dead fish along the shore. On Saturday, they employed an unusual piece of equipment to help finish the job.
Thousands of fish of all sizes began dying off in the lake and the shoreline became littered with their remains. The reaction from the public was one of shock but that quickly turned to disgust.
"It smells like a can of sardines that's been rotten ..." said Tor Camorlinda, who lives near the lake.
"It's usually -- I mean, you get some sea smell but this is, this is rancid, almost," said hiker Tyraa Royal.
Over the past week, city crews were busy removing the smelly fish carcasses from the shoreline and it appears they did a remarkable job.
To finish the cleanup, the city called in a vessel that looks like it comes from a bygone era. Half pontoon boat, half paddle-wheeler, the strange-looking craft circled the lake, collecting any remaining dead fish floating in the water.
Rick Hutton, owner of Aquatic Harvesting, pilots the specialized skimmer craft. It lowers a conveyer belt into the water, usually to remove unwanted vegetation. He contracts with various lake managers up and down the West Coast, removing decaying material from just under the surface.
"Cleaning up this water, it's just going to make the lake much nicer, not just for recreation but it's healthier," he explained on a website video. "You know, if this stays here, the stuff starts to rot and decompose and it's just going to get messy."
The skimmer has operated in Lake Merritt before, usually removing dead plants but, on Saturday, it was on the prowl for dead fish and, as he watched from the shore, Frank Gonzales seemed fascinated by the whole process.
"I've seen it operate a lot of times -- different times of the day -- and it picks up a lot of stuff," he said. "And so, if they wouldn't have this, I don't know how they would get the stuff out of here. So, good job, man!"
Hutton said that, by early afternoon, he only found a few fish and a dead ray, so the lake may be getting close to normal again. Some who have been watching the skimmer operate are beginning to consider it a tourist attraction.
"If there was something posted that, 'hey, the skimmer's here and here's the history of it'-- that would be super cool, you know?" Camorlinda said.
Of course, the city probably doesn't mind giving visitors to Lake Merritt something different to look at than what they were seeing -- and smelling -- last week.
