GRAPEVINE — Thousands of fish were found dead in Grapevine Lake on Tuesday. It's a major fish kill, with its victims lining the banks of the popular lake.
Fish kills are something we have been seeing in lakes across North Texas this year. Along with Lake Grapevine, similar problems have been reported at Lake Lavon, Lake Ray Hubbard and Lake Worth.
And Lake Texoma is now dealing with an algae bloom that's dangerous to both aquatic life and humans.
Texas Parks and Wildlife dispatched its "Kills and Spills" team to investigate the lifeless fish on the shore of Grapevine Lake, something boaters and fishermen haven't seen recently.
"Ten years I've been out here; I haven't seen anything like it and I don't understand it," said boat owner Robert Russell.
"It's kind of sad and kind of shocking," said David Kanally, another boater. "Come out and see all these dead fish and you suspect there's gotta be something wrong."
The primary cause of a fish kill is low oxygen levels in the water.
"I don't know if its the heat, oxygen, lack of oxygen has just stressed them," said fisherman Bobby Soohoo.
Heat can stress fish, but low levels of oxygen cause fish to swim near the surface to gulp air.
State wildlife experts believe this fish kill may be the result of Monday's rainfall. Rain can stir up a lake, displacing the oxygen-rich water where fish live and starving them out.
Large fish generally die first, followed by smaller ones.
"You wonder if it's safe to be out here in the water and swimming and lot of boating activity in the water," said boater Robert Russell.
Unlike Lake Texoma, which is closed to recreation because of algae bloom, Grapevine and Lavon both remain open.
E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com
