Widespread fish die-offs seen around the Bay Area
OAKLAND -- Environmental group San Francisco Baykeeper is reporting a harmful algae bloom is killing fish in massive numbers around the bay.
Baykeeper says hundreds of dead fish were visible Sunday at the Oakland Yacht Club, in the middle of the bay between Dumbarton and San Mateo bridges. The fish die-off was also visible at various shorelines, including Oyster Point, Baywinds Park in Foster City, Hayward, Alameda Estuary, Lake Merritt, Keller Beach, Point Molate, and Sausalito.
The group said it's seeing sharks, sturgeon and striped bass washing ashore, which they called "highly unusual."
"In other words, we have evidence from locations across South, Central, and San Pablo bays," the group said in a statement. "This appears to be a substantial fish kill, most likely related to the unprecedented red tide algal bloom we have been tracking for the past month."
"We also have a report of a dead sturgeon on Stinson Beach," Baykeeper said. "Dead sturgeon washing ashore is really rare. Not sure if this fish died outside the gate or was transported by tides and currents."
Additional information on the die-off is available at the San Francisco Baykeeper website. The San Francisco Estuary Institute is also asking Bay Area residents to report dead fish sightings as part of a citizen science project in collaboration between the SFEI, SF Baykeeper, and UC Davis fish ecology researchers. The online form to report dead fish sightings can be found on the SFEI website.
