A whole mess of fish just up and died at Bayou Chaland in Louisiana. What you’re looking at is a jambalaya of different kinds of lifeless fish, crabs, stingray and eel. You might think BP is to blame, but Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has a different suspect in mind.

Dead zones and fish kills are not uncommon in these parts, but fish kills with multiple different kinds of species rather just a single species are.

The parish initially lacked the resources to determine the cause of the fish kill, like whether it has anything to do with that BP black tea kettle boiling over a few months ago.

Now the Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has stepped up and said the real perp is low tide and high temperatures. They found nothing linking the dead fish with the Gulf Spill. The Daily Mail reports:

Ms Watkins said low tide trapped fish in less than two feet of water. She added that hot water held less oxygen than cold, and heat also raised the metabolism – so plants and animals needed more oxygen to survive.

She said the area where the fish were found is bordered on one side by a rock dam, and a shallow outlet to the Gulf of Mexico on the other.

‘When the tide is low, it becomes a pool,’ she said.

Devastating ‘fish kill’ found in Gulf of Mexico … but the culprit is not who you might think [Mail Online]
Massive fish kill reported in Louisiana [The Times-Picayune via The Upshot] (Thanks to GitEmSteveDave!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.