BISHOPVILLE — An estimated 50,000 young menhaden have died in Gray's Creek in Bishipville, the Maryland Department of the Environment confirmed Wednesday.
On Wednesday, an MDE spokesman said oxygen in the creek over the weekend was one-third the healthy level of 5 mg per liter of water, said Chris Luckett, an MDE biologist whose group investigates fish kills. The oxygen level at Gray's Creek was 1.5 mg per liter of water on Sunday when the fish kill was discovered, he said Monday.
Biologists believe oxygen levels dropped after northwest winds from a tropical depression in the region pushed out water from an already shallow creek. Menhaden move in large schools, and likely were trapped in the creek with little water and even less oxygen. Fish that concentrated in the creek consumed the little oxygen that remained, he said.
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