Warm water temperatures in Bridge Creek are being blamed for dozens of dead fish discovered at Centennial Park this week.
More than 30 dead fish were lined up on the shore by kids playing in the water Tuesday evening, with more in the shallow waters of the creek.
Conservation Officer Murray Booth said he had spoken with a biologist with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Wednesday whose “extremely educated guess” is that the hot early summer weather had increased the water temperature, causing the fish to die off.
“Unfortunately, nature can be cruel,” Booth said. “This is the way nature deals with things from time to time. The fish that are in the creek that are dead will be picked up by scavengers or washed away down the creek.”
Booth said creek visitors should leave the fish alone, noting there is nothing that can be done to help those affected or reverse the effects of the hot weather.
“If they’re alive and they can be caught by hand, it means they’re stressed and not doing well already,” he said.
“There’s nothing we can do to save them and make them more healthy, unfortunately, but nothing goes to waste in nature.”
At this time, Booth said the conservation office hadn’t heard any reports of bear sightings in the area.
He’s reminding residents that if they spot anything of concern relating to wildlife in the area to call the RAPP hotline at 1-877-952-7277.
melissa.smalley@100milefreepress.net
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