More dead fish to wash up on beaches

Residents have been warned that dead fish will continue washing up on beaches along the False Bay Coast for some time. Grant Pitcher, a Marine and Coastal Management specialist, says decaying planktonic plants, which were in bloom during the red tide along the coast, are resulting in a lack of oxygen in the water, leading to the deaths of fish and other marine life.

A number of dead fish have already washed up on beaches along Gordons Bay. Pitcher says usually the blooms are dispersed by the wind, but he says this has not happened this time.

“The problem in False Bay is that the blooms are not easily dispersed. The fact that it is a bay makes it have a longer retention time. So we have seen these blooms building up over several months now, and although we have had various wind patterns during that period, the blooms have persisted. Through a more exposed coast these blooms would be dispersed by the wind, but this has not been the case now because of detainment in the bay system,” said Pitcher.