Thousands of fish dead along Chicago lakefront
January 11, 2011 3:52 AM |
2 Comments | UPDATED STORY CHICAGO -- Thousands of gizzard shad are going belly up along
Chicago's lakefront in a large die-off that's left many of the fish frozen in the ice along the city's harbors.
Lake Michigan Program biologist Dan Makauskas tells the
Chicago Sun-Times that gizzard shad aren't a very tough variety of fish. They're members of the herring family, and they're more sensitive to drops in oxygen levels than most fish.
Makauskas says the young fish may not have built up enough reserves to withstand the early onslaught of extreme cold that hit the area.
The Sun-Times reports that Canada geese and mallard ducks are gulping down many of the dead and dying 3- to 5-inch fish. Naturalist Joel Greenberg says the birds don't normally eat fish, but he says they're "opportunistic."
-- Associated Press