Comments on: Death in the Desert

Death in the Desert

Unique Metabolism — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:36:03 -0800

Three million fish committ suicide in the desert - A very large number of fish die in California's largest lake, the Salton Sea. These events are not unique to this lake; even large areas of the ocean experience them. The eutrophication of coastal regions, as well as land surrounding inland waters, is often to blame for the degraded water quality that leads to these deaths. For the record: the initial report of suicide by the fish can neither be confirmed or denied.

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:41:18 -0800

God, the Salton Sea is a fascinating, horrible thing. Interesting post, UM, thx.

By: Rubbstone

Rubbstone — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:05:33 -0800

Time for a fish fry!

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:10:32 -0800

"Charlie! Don't do it! Somebody stop Charlie! He's going to the shallow end! Omigod! Now he's just floating up there! Somebody do something!" Uh. They didn't commit suicide. They asphixiated. They suffocated. They ran outta air. It tends to happen when humanity fucks up the environment. Yes. I'm blaming this on global warming and not on excessive algae growth, because global warming is more fashionable. No I haven't seen Gore's new film. I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:11:20 -0800

gah, water! fish fuck in it.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:21:30 -0800

The Salton Sea is a messed up place. It was created by accident, has since become saltier than the ocean, and periodically breaks out in huge algae blooms that completely consume all oxygen. The place smells like death 9 months of the year. Massive fish kills are common there.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:31:06 -0800

So all these fish over-bred and they and their waste products used up all the oxygen in the water? Thank god this could never happen to us! *Cough*Peak Oil*Cough*

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:46:01 -0800

So long and thanks for all the fish.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:13:29 -0800

Saw her at the picture show out on the highway After the fish fry, late last Friday Havin' a fish fry, number one fish fry The fish fry out by Frenchtown

By: First Post

First Post — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:16:10 -0800

It's ok to committ fish 'cause they don't have any feelings.

By: Balisong

Balisong — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:49:48 -0800

Suicide?

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:02:59 -0800

Try Peachy Keen. No Brian! Don't do it!

By: shoepal

shoepal — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:15:55 -0800

The Winning of Barbara Worth

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:27:53 -0800

Sorry the fish croaked. Thanks for the post.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:13:16 -0800

Tilapa? Jeez, if there were more Chinese people in the area, there wouldn't be a tilapa overpopulation problem. (I'm Chinese, and yes, I find steamed tilapa a fricken sweet entree. Thanks for the post but, suicide?) otoh, I enjoyed the movie.

By: Unique Metabolism

Unique Metabolism — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:30:34 -0800

Alright, alright...the suicide part was a bit of an inside joke. The fish actually come to the surface of the water and gulp air - a direct result of hydrogen sulfide being present (and no oxygen) in the water. They also collect along the shallows due to the surface currents, resulting in "fish-beachings" if you will. The "ocean" link discusses how lobsters actually walked out of the water (to escape the hydrogen sulfide), where they were snatched-up by locals (so, out the water and into the pot - literally). Local fishermen out at the Salton Sea have joked with me that if you just dangled a hook in front of the fish, they'd gladly jump on it. So, fish suicide was a natural by-line for the article.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 05:16:42 -0800

porpoise: I'm guessing you mean this movie, but I saw this one about a year ago. A fascinating and sometimes depressing look at the sea and some of the people who live around it. Apparently improving the sea and the area was a pet project of Congressman Sonny Bono, but interest at the Congressional level faded after he died.

By: qvantamon

qvantamon — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 06:33:09 -0800

Let's hope some metafilter member didn't live in that desert.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 06:55:50 -0800

March of the Salmons

By: friendly1

friendly1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 11:08:27 -0800

It looks pretty apocalyptic. I wonder if the extinction of the dinosaur was a similar situation. Maybe it is just the way nature deals with overpopulation. Can all that fish be eaten? If not it would be such a waste.