An Unfortunate Coincidence

The Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) released tentative findings for what caused scores of dead fish and crabs to wash up along the shorelines in Frank Pate Park last week.

According to the FWC, preliminary water quality readings have shown that the combination of an unusual rise in water temperatures and low oxygen levels in the water is the probable cause for the fish kill.

There is no evidence that this particular event was related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"Fish specimen did not show abnormalities suggesting anything unusual," said Micah Bakenhaster, research associate for the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Health Group. "Our investigation suggests that naturally occurring low dissolved oxygen levels are the most likely cause of the fish kill."

The fish kill coincided with anonymous reports of a large oil slick sighted just six miles of the bay, which prompted city officials to call an emergency meeting on Friday afternoon to address concerns and dispel any rumors.

Officials also closed the Frank Pate Park boat ramp on Thursday as a precaution, but voted to reopen the ramp immediately following the meeting despite opposition from the mayor.

The Coast Guard, along with representatives from FWC, Vessels of Opportunity program and Gulf County were dispatched to the location of the rumored oil slick and each reported no evidence to support a connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Each department independently reported the material was large amounts of sargassum weed, a type of algae, usually brown or dark green, which may have rough, sticky texture.

"To date, we have not seen any sheens related to the Deepwater Horizon spill," said Bryan Lowe, with the Florida Department of Emergency Management. "These instances are bad timing for sure."

Jennifer Paris, emergency response manager for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed that a DEP field crew sampled the area for oil spill related contamination and although results of their analysis are still pending, field observations did not indicate the presence of oil.

Several residents who had long fished the waters questioned whether the fish kill may be related to dispersants in the water.

Mel Magidson, mayor of Port St. Joe, insisted that no dispersants have been used around the bay.  Officials could not verify whether testing would specially determine if dispersants were related to the fish kill. According to Lowe, there is no indication.

"All indications are that fish are safe to eat," said Lowe. "No tests have shown that there are any foreign substances in the water.

FWC did relate that they do not plan to conduct any more field sampling related to this event.