Dead Fish, Birds Wash Up On Lake Erie Shores In Latest Mystery (PHOTO)

[WalterNZ]

Dead Fish, Birds Wash Up On Lake Erie Shores In Latest Mystery (PHOTO)

Tens of thousands of dead fish, along with dead seagulls, washed up on the shores of Lake Erie on Wednesday afternoon in yet another mysterious mass animal death.

Rick Nicholls, Member of Provincial Parliament for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, is mystified by the mass Lake Erie animal death, telling NewsNet5: “First thing that crossed my mind, is there any potential danger to humans from a health point of view? Secondly, as I got more and more into it, what’s the cause of this sudden fish kill in the lake?”

Samples of the dead fish and dead birds have been sent to a lab for analysis. Currently, the Ontario Ministries of the Environment in Canada is pursuing several avenues, looking into whether a spill occurred that negatively impacted the ecosystem, according to NewsNet5.

Another possibility for the Lake Erie fish deaths is an inversion. An inversion is a natural phenomenon that occurs when cold water, which has lower oxygen levels, goes to the lake's surface. This can suffocate the fish, according to CNN.

"Essentially it's a rolling over of the lake," Ontario Ministry of the Environment spokeswoman Kate Jordan told Canada's Chatham Daily News on Tuesday. "Something – whether it be a storm, or cooler temperatures at night, or strong winds – triggers a temperature change in the lake."

However, researchers who tested the Lake Erie waters have not yet observed anything out of the ordinary in their field measurements, such as temperature, pH or oxygen levels, according to the Chatham Daily News. Jordan added, "We did not observe any spill or pollution impacting the lake."

Officials are still awaiting more intensive lab analysis results on the dead fish found at Lake Erie, which included carp, sheepshead, perch, catfish and suckers.

Dr. David Colby, the Chatham-Kent medical officer of health, told The Windsor Star that he has not seen or smelled anything like it before. “All kinds of people were woken out of a sound sleep by a stench and it was like a septic tank was backing up,” he told The Windsor Star of the smell of thousands of dead fish that began stinking up the region Friday.

Colby mentioned another possibility for the mass death to The Windsor Star:

He said there are other possible causes for the dead fish such as a fish disease called viral hemorrhagic septicemia and Type E botulism, a bacterial toxin which would kill birds that feed on dead fish. He said he’s already seen a sick gull near the dead fish but that is not conclusive evidence.
This would not pose a threat to humans, according to Colby.

Earlier this month, thousands of dead fish washed ashore along the Texas coast from the Colorado River to Galveston Island, Kens5 reported. Biologists suspected low oxygen levels caused the deaths.

The dead fish and seagulls found at Lake Erie is reminiscent of the mass animal deaths that occurred around the world in early 2011. Thousands of dead birds fell from the skies in Arkansas, hundreds of dead birds were found along a California highway, more were found in Kentucky and Louisiana, while millions of dead fish appeared in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Dead birds were also reported in Italy and Sweden, along with massive fish kills in New Zealand and Brazil.

At the time, Arkansas residents thought doomsday was near.

"I think the switchboard lit up pretty good," Beebe police Capt. Eddie Cullum said last January, according to Mother Nature News. "For all the doomsdayers, that was definitely the end of the world."

[daygo]

Don`t know where they get tens of thousands from, looks more like less than 100. maybe they can`t count need to go back to school.

[dave-o]

Here's another article.

More tests suggest Lake Erie fish die-off was natural causes, MOE says

Samples from the dead fish that littered beaches along Lake Erie Labour Day weekend showed no signs of bacterial infections, botulism or a fish disease called viral hemorrhagic septicemia, Ministry of Environment spokeswoman Kate Jordan said Friday.

“At this time all the information we have suggests the fish were killed due to natural causes,” she said.

The tens of thousands of fish that came up on 40 kilometres of Lake Erie shoreline in Chatham-Kent and Elgin County Sept. 1 seem to have been caught up in water with low oxygen levels. Jordan said strong southwest winds rippled over the lake causing the colder lake bottom water to come up. The bottom of the lake is where the lowest levels of oxygen exist because that’s where plants decompose and use up a lot of the oxygen, she said. So the fish end up gulping for air and suffocating and being pushed to shore either dead or still gulping for air.

“We see it every couple years in Lake Erie,” Jordan said.

[daygo]

Well I counted 106 on that photo. Any advances.

[dave-o]

Well I counted 106 on that photo. Any advances.

There's other photos on the web. The fish were of all sizes from tiny minnows to big fish and were found along some 25 miles of shoreline.

[Noah Cotterill]

Again? Earth is travailing.

[WKUHilltopper]

Here's a little snippet from their photo montage:

Birds And Fish Bizarreness
In early 2011, thousands of birds and millions of fish were found dead across the globe. Mass numbers of dead fish have appeared in Maryland, Arkansas, Brazil, and New Zealand. Meanwhile, a crazy number of dead birds have been found in Arkansas, Louisianna, Kentucky, and Sweden. Theories ranged from fireworks to the apocalypse. We're hoping it was closer to the former.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...l#slide=585592

Kentucky?? First I've heard of this. Of course, it is Dove hunting season down here.

[Noah Cotterill]

Here's a little snippet from their photo montage:



Kentucky?? First I've heard of this. Of course, it is Dove hunting season down here.

I'd delete the link. I'm pretty sure it's against the rules to post HP stuff.

[WKUHilltopper]

I'd delete the link. I'm pretty sure it's against the rules to post HP stuff.

It's authentication and verification of what they've said and that I didn't make it up...as confirmation--documenting their bogus statement and report of a "bird kill in Kentucky".

There's a difference in "catching them in sensationalizing" and posting their political tripe.

[ForgivenOne]

I believe that all these fish kills, and the dead birds who eat the fish for food, are a good sensationalist story, and most can be attributed to lack of oxygen in the water. However, once the Judgments start the waters will be poisoned, and the aquatic kill will make the kills we see today pale in comparison. Rather than dead fish 'washing up on shore', I think the surface of the oceans will instantly be covered by the bodies of dead fish of all shapes and sizes.

Thankfully we won't be here to smell that detritus.

[mattfivefour]

From Ontario's all-news radio station:

"The Environment Ministry says a naturally-occurring temperature inversion may have brought an oxygen-depleted layer of water from the bottom of the lake to the surface, leading to the widespread deaths.


"This phenomenon, sometimes called upwelling, involves the nutrient-depleted waters at the bottom being forced to the top, replacing the warm and nutrient-dense water that often provides for fish.


"A ministry spokesperson told the Toronto Star that tests did not find any evidence of manure spills or contaminants, while Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said acidity tests came back negative. He added that the deaths appear to be consistent with upwelling."

These things have been occurring periodically ever since I have lived here. No big deal.

[WKUHilltopper]

"A ministry spokesperson told the Toronto Star that tests did not find any evidence of manure spills...

You didn't look in the right spot...try Washington, DC.

[mattfivefour]

Not sure what Washington would know about the dead fish and birds in Ontario? I haven't read stories of the same thing happening on the southern (US) shores, only on the Ontario side. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is a pretty good source. They have ruled out contaminants and disease (at least common ones such as botulism and viral hemorrhagic septicemia). In the past their diagnoses have been 100% on target. Not sure why this would be different.

Certainly this mass death is nowhere near the tens of thousands of birds that fell dead from the skies all over the world last year (notably Arkansas). Back then some Christians were in an uproar that the end of the world was at hand. Sometimes I think that we Christians are more superstitious than non-Christians. We see signs in everything. Yes, God's hand is in everything and He is working in this world. But not everything is a sign ... especially things that have occurred for decades or more. We need to use wisdom and discernment in interpreting what is happening. Certainly temperature inversions and the resulting major fish kills are nothing new in Lake Erie. Neither are massive numbers of dead birds.

[WKUHilltopper]

Not sure what Washington would know about the dead fish and birds in Ontario?

You need a coffee fix!!

Toronto Star that tests did not find any evidence of manure spills...

[Suzanne]

Not sure what Washington would know about the dead fish and birds in Ontario? I haven't read stories of the same thing happening on the southern (US) shores, only on the Ontario side. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is a pretty good source. They have ruled out contaminants and disease (at least common ones such as botulism and viral hemorrhagic septicemia). In the past their diagnoses have been 100% on target. Not sure why this would be different.

Certainly this mass death is nowhere near the tens of thousands of birds that fell dead from the skies all over the world last year (notably Arkansas). Back then some Christians were in an uproar that the end of the world was at hand. Sometimes I think that we Christians are more superstitious than non-Christians. We see signs in everything. Yes, God's hand is in everything and He is working in this world. But not everything is a sign ... especially things that have occurred for decades or more. We need to use wisdom and discernment in interpreting what is happening. Certainly temperature inversions and the resulting major fish kills are nothing new in Lake Erie. Neither are massive numbers of dead birds.

I think, when WKU referred to Washington in his post, he was speaking of congress and the president.

I forgot to add the manure part to the above sentence. Washington and manure often go together.

[Joe B]

I do agree that we need to be careful in not seeing the end times in every kind of disaster that may happen on this earth.

There have always been natural disasters but we should be looking either for exceptional events or those which over time, are predicting a major event or have evolved into one.

I am concerned that the numbers of earthquakes are all pointing to a very major event but I am just as concerned by the changes that have occurred in people over the last few decades. 2 Timothy 3 vs 1-5 has in my mind been fulfilled but those changes were not instant though they have become common place now.

We should of course continue to discuss all events that occur for they are things that we should care about and be praying over.

[mattfivefour]

Joe, I entirely agree with your notice of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 as being more and more evident in the world today, in particular in our own countries. To me this is far more indicative (ie: signs) of the times than cyclical natural phenomena. More and more headlines are trumpeting evil and unnatural acts; these once almost unheard of acts are becoming commonplace. Men and women are indeed increasingly lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, often holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. And, while this is describing the changing character of society, I have to note that some of these people are in our churches.

[Suzanne]

Joe, I entirely agree with your notice of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 as being more and more evident in the world today, in particular in our own countries. To me this is far more indicative (ie: signs) of the times than cyclical natural phenomena. More and more headlines are trumpeting evil and unnatural acts; these once almost unheard of acts are becoming commonplace. Men and women are indeed increasingly lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, often holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. And, while this is describing the changing character of society, I have to note that some of these people are in our churches.

Lori Raines and I discussed this on the phone the other night. It's the attitude and actions of people that are most disturbing to me. I remember when Terry James mentioned in one of his "Nearing Midnight" articles, that it seemed to him (paraphrasing), that on 9/11 a veil was torn between good and evil, and that evil has flowed into our everyday lives. There is a marked difference in how people treat one another now than even a few years ago. Some of the news stories, that I hear on TV, or read about online, both shock and numb me at the same time. It's as though I'm horrified, but at the same time, I'm so full of horror that I can't take in anymore and grow numb. I'll be so glad when we're raptured.