REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — An estimated 1 million fish turned up dead Tuesday in a Southern California marina, creating a floating feast for pelicans, gulls and other sea life and a stinky mess for harbor authorities.
The sardines apparently depleted the water of oxygen and suffocated after getting lost in the marina, officials said.
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“All indications are it’s a naturally occurring event,” said Andrew Hughan, a California Fish and Game spokesman at the scene.
The die-off was unusual but not unprecedented. Brent Scheiwe, an official of Sea Lab, a Los Angeles Conservation Corps research program at Redondo, said testing of some of the water showed oxygen levels near zero.
Hughan said water samples showed no oils or chemicals that could have contributed to the deaths. He said some of the fish were being shipped to a Fish and Game laboratory for study but the cause was likely to be uncomplicated.
The fish appeared to have come into the marina during the night and probably couldn’t find their way out, he said.
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