Extreme Heat May Be Killing Off Fish in Prospect Park Lake, Alliance Says

PROSPECT PARK — Fish in Prospect Park’s water are dying off in droves — and the park’s stewards believe the city’s recent heat wave may be to blame.

Visitors to the park have spotted lots of belly-up fish in the park’s lake this week and wondered what could cause so many of them to die off so quickly.

So many dead fish in the lake at prospect park... Tons of them! 😞 Any idea what's going on? @nature_org pic.twitter.com/JkNiCToe1S

— Dani Grodsky (@DGrodsky) August 18, 2016

 

Disturbing amount of dead fish in Prospect Park. We counted about forty as it was getting dark. But more could be seen out farther. What about the herons who eat fish? Is there something poisonous or parasitical that will endanger them we wonder? #deadfish #prospectpark #letthemeatgeese #TylerAChase #LORAGE #letthemeatgeese-movie

A photo posted by Tyler A. Chase (@letthemeatgeese) on Aug 18, 2016 at 9:57pm PDT

The Prospect Park Alliance said the lake is “experiencing a sudden decline in its fish population” recently, likely due to extreme weather conditions.

“We believe this is due to the extreme heat and lack of rain and wind over the past several weeks. This can cause a severe drop in oxygen levels that endanger fish. The Prospect Park Alliance is working quickly with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate and confirm the cause of this issue,” the group said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time this season the lake has suffered an environmental issue. For the second summer in a row, toxic algae present in Prospect Park Lake has kept pooches from swimming in the park’s waters. As of Aug. 8, the lake still had large blooms of the algae, according to recent DEC testing.

An inquiry to the state’s DEC about the lake’s fish was not immediately returned.