Fish kill on Folly Beach claims thousands
By Bo Petersen
Originally published 10:55 a.m., January 6, 2011
Updated 12:36 p.m., January 6, 2011
FOLLY BEACH — Hundreds of thousands of dead menhaden littered the sand here this morning, stretching in either direction from the Folly Pier in a line along the tide wash as far as could be seen. Blackbirds and grackle were picking at them.
State wildlife biologists are responding the kill; early indications are that it’s cold-related, said Phil Maier with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. The menhaden appear to have been healthy otherwise. Officials at other nearby beaches had no reports of fish kills there.
The die-off follows the discovery of thousands of dead starfish on Isle of Palms in December, amid a growing list of sea life trauma caused by unusually cold sea temperatures. The cold has wildlife officials alarmed for food and game fish such as shrimp, as well as sea trout and red drum. Isolated reports of lethargic and dead trout and drum have been coming in to DNR, Maier said.
“We certainly are nearing temperatures where we’re concerned about shrimp too,” he said.
The cold up and down the East Coast has already caused a massive fish kill in Maryland. A number of stunned sea turtles are being treated locally at the S.C. Aquarium’s turtle hospital.
Menhaden are mouse-sized bait fish that travel in large schools, and tend to move farther south as waters cool. They swim shallower than other fish, and can be more susceptible to the cold.
At Folly Beach on Thursday, Jennifer and Dan Berei of Charlotte, N.C. were celebrating their first anniversary when Jennifer saw the gleams along the tide line and went down to collect what she thought might be shells.
“We were like, ‘Wow,’” she said. “Just that little pile right there looks to be thousands of them. It’s amazing. Crazy.”
