2021-07-12- Fish Kill

This year, Alberta’s record-breaking heatwave at the end of June meant fish kill week came a month early, killing more fish than what the province usually observes. That’s when the natural process of warmer temperatures near the surface of a body of water combines with an increase in algae that sucks oxygen out of deeper water at night to kill off fish. The heat dome that formed over Pigeon Lake created the conditions earlier and in greater number than past years observed.

A dead white fish washed up on the beach at Pigeon Lake on July 9, 2021, in the photo below. Dead fish are washing up on Alberta lake shores due to the recent heat dome which in some cases has caused rising water temperatures, and an algae bloom that diminishes oxygen levels for the fish. PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM /Postmedia

Link to Edmonton Journal article HERE.