35 Tons of Dead Fish Spotted In China Lake

Piles of dead fish were seen floating on the surface of Hongcheng Lake in southern China. The dead fish weighs about 35 tons. The residents were stunned last Wednesday after seeing the lake covered with dead yellow and white fish.

The researchers are investigating the cause of the killing of the fish. On the other hand, they believe that a change or a sudden drop of the salinity level might be the cause of it, according to Nature World News.

Salinity is the concentration of salt in seawater and about 35 parts per thousand. This indicates each kilogram (that is bout one liter per volume) of seawater is estimated to be 35 grams (1.2 oz.) of dissolved salts and chloride.

The dead fish might be belonging to the herring family. It is about the size of a half palm. The residents said that they had not seen this type of fish in the lake before.  USA Today reports that the fish might be possibly caught up by a tidal surge and they were pushed up into Hongcheng Lake in the city of Haikou.

35 tons of dead fish suddenly wash up in a lake in China https://t.co/0CekuTB8hN pic.twitter.com/grUlzsTOS5

— Mashable (@mashable) May 6, 2016

Herrings, which are saltwater fish, are not adapted to fresh water. It might be that the salt water fish inadvertently end up in fresh water. This made their blood pressure became higher than the water pressure, which caused their blood vessels to burst.

On the other hand, many residents are uncertain of the cause of the massacre of the fish. They believe that the killing of the fish is more likely due to pollution.

Meanwhile, the health officials have deployed 100 sanitation workers to clean out the tons of dead fish. Then, they were sent to landfill sites and incinerating plants.