CRYSTAL LAKE, Iowa (AP) - Biologists say a large algae bloom in north-central Iowa’s Crystal Lake has killed thousands of fish, which have washed up on the lake’s shores and created a putrid mess.
The Mason City Globe Gazette reports (https://bit.ly/1O1tOUJ ) that the fish were killed earlier this week.
The fish kill has left anglers and fisheries biologists uncertain about the immediate future for one of the state’s premier fisheries.
Iowa fisheries biologist Scott Grummer says several days of warm temperatures and light winds in late June and early July contributed to an unusually heavy blue-green algae bloom. When abnormally cool temperatures and overcast days followed, the algae died rapidly, removing oxygen from the water.
Grummer says there are no plans to collect and dispose of the dead fish.
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Information from: Globe Gazette, https://www.globegazette.com/
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