The Maryland Department of the Environment is investigating a fish kill in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor that officials say was caused by bacteria that reduced oxygen levels.
The die-off affected 126 blue crabs, about 1,000 menhaden and several other small fish found dead on the water’s surface Wednesday, environmental officials said.
The Inner Harbor fish kill was caused by a “Pistachio Tide,” a bacterial bloom that made the water look green, produced a sulfurous odor and reduced oxygen levels in the Patapsco River, thereby killing crabs and fish, officials said.
Officials contrasted the Inner Harbor fish kill to one observed Saturday in a nearly 14-mile stretch of the Potomac River between White’s Ferry and Violettes Lock, the 23rd lock of the now-defunct Chesapeake & Ohio Canal near Darnestown.
The Potomac fish kill mainly affected a freshwater fish known as the golden redhorse sucker, officials said.
Maryland environmental officials determined that the Potomac die-off was triggered by a record-high water temperature of 94 degrees. The previous water temperature record was set in 1988, according to Fox Weather.
The Potomac River incident affected a larger number of fish. Environmental officials said in a report, extrapolating from what they observed on the river, that more than 21,000 fish died.
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