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Redondo's Dead Fish Will Be Vacuumed Up, Used as Fertilizer
First: Hold the anchovies! It turns out those millions of dead fish that mysteriously clogged up the waters of Redondo Beach's King Harbor yesterday are mostly sardines. Second: Now officials are scrambling to get those sardines out of the water before the "massive, churning ball of sardines, and some mackerel and anchovies," that showed up unexpectedly turns into a colossal public and marine life heath nightmare, according to LA Now.
A "giant vaccum device" will be used to siphon the fish out of the water, and that job could take a few days. Once the dead fish are, well, fished out, their remains will have a helpful purpose--they'll be used as fertilizer.
What brought the fish in, and why they died en masse, seems likely to be because of a spring storm that sent them towards shore, and, once in King Harbor's set of four marinas, they suffocated. The Times explains:
Even at high tide, King Harbor is only 22 feet deep, and though it is home to mackerel and perch, there simply wasn't enough oxygen to support such a massive influx of fish, even of the four-inch variety, officials said. The basin of the marina complex the fish chose also happened to be a spot with very little water movement, critical for maintaining oxygen levels.
Fish corpses have been sent up to the state capitol to be analyzed, however a review of the King Harbor waters show no toxins or algae buildup.
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