Thousands of dead fish litter Galveston beaches

Thousands of dead fish are washing ashore along the Texas coast, from the Colorado River to Galveston Island, and Parks and Wildlife biologists suspect low oxygen levels offshore may be to blame.
Visitors to Jamaica Beach were surprised – and a little disturbed – by what the tide brought in.

Biologists with the Parks and Wildlife Department began testing pH, saline and oxygen levels in water samples taken along the coast. ”When something’s affecting one [fish] then usually a lot of them are being affected at the same time because it’s such a big group [swimming in schools] together,” said Steven Mitchell of Texas Parks and Wildlife.

He suspects low oxygen in the water is a problem. However, he won’t know for sure until biologists are able to test water up to 10 miles offshore. That could take several days. Read more >>