Dead Smelt (Osmerus mordax) and Tomcod (Microgadus proximus) Scattered for Miles along Beach

Observation by Kendra Lee:

Along a 10 - 15 mile stretch where we camp there was little dead fish along the beach line. We stopped about 5 times along the beach and seen about 10-15 little fish scattered in the water at each stop. They looked and smelled like smelts and tomcods.

I'm not sure why the water was brown, maybe because the ice just went out a week and a half ago? It was foam, and that was just one of the places we stopped. The other places we stopped didn't have the foam. I haven't been boating since early September, but there was little fish at our camp that washed up all summer. Not much, but maybe 1-2 fish every 2 feet or so. I noticed the water was a lot warmer this year that previous years. We cut fish and rinse them in the water, it felt warmer. 10-02-19

Ted Meyers with Alaska Department of Fish and Game writes:

Whenever there is mortality this widespread of more than one fish species the usual cause is suboptimum environmental issues, be it hypoxia, algal blooms, high temperatures, storm activity, chemical spill or from runoff from precipitation, etc. More information on water quality/environmental parameters and gross clinical signs of affected fish are warranted before any further conclusions can be made.

LEO Editors Comment:

During the summer of 2019, LEO received many observations of fish, sea bird, and sea mammal mortalities. A map of those events can be found here. Red dots indicate observations of sea bird deaths, green dots indicate salmon and other fish deaths, purple indicate marine mammal deaths, and yellow indicates marine invertebrate deaths.

Biologists are still investingating the causes of death for many of these animals. The salmon deaths reported this summer were attributed to unusually warm river water temperatures and low oxygen, but there is no cause determined for the dead krill reported in Shishmaref and Unalaska, and the dead sand lance reported near Kodiak Island.

Necropsies of the sea birds indicate that the birds have died of starvation. Tissues collected from the birds are being analyzed for harmful algal bloom toxins. The series of grey whale deaths have are considered an Unusual Mortality Event, along with the deaths of ice seals, but the causes of these deaths are still being investigated.

Each observation of an unusual death provides more information to what may have happened this summer. We appreciate Kendra's assistance in documenting this event.

Gay Sheffield with Alaska Sea Grant, Marine Advisory Program writes:

My understanding was that during the late June/early July heat wave, Golovin also experienced small fish dead in the Bay (i.e. tomcods, etc) - later in the summer though than what this Teller observation documents. I would check with the Native Village of Golovin for more details. 10-15-19

Carol Oliver with the Native Village of Golovin observed:

It was sad to see (otherwise) healthy looking dead salmon; along with many other species of fish along our beaches and in the water. Also the algae!!! I spoke with a fish biologist at NSEDC and was concerned about fish returning. He said the ones on route will return to spawning grounds.10-16-19

Comments from LEO Editors:

We are sharing this post with public health and engineering professionals so they are aware of the concerns raised by Carol Oliver. In addition to the co-authors, this observation has been shared with officials from Kawerak Association, the Norton Sound Health Corporation, the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, and the Community Environment and Health and Engineering staff at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.