Originally Posted by Macca11
Exactly, and while not to trivialise it. It's been happening for ever to shallow land locked bodies of water.
Not suprisingly, I see the finger pointed at global warming on the news tonight
Exactly, and while not to trivialise it. It's been happening for ever to shallow land locked bodies of water.
Not suprisingly, I see the finger pointed at global warming on the news tonight
I have been a regular there targetting "fish" for the past ten yrs, 3 weeks ago it was decidely "off" and smelled stagnant as if it hasnt had any flush of new water for a month or so. I didnt fish it then and probably wont return in the near future either. Funny thing is though, it never indicated to me whilst i was there that sewerage was any part of the problem.
Jack.
the pipes/inlet/outlet at the northern end (these go under the old fogies home and lead up to the drain behind the caravan park) had been blocked and the council eventually fixed them after a bit of public complaint. council have been working on the pumping station, i think it's a rising main, down at the southern end at kunde street for a while now. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a spill of some sort down there, they've been trying to contain/pump out their worksite but it's sometimes hard to get everything especially if we get hit with a good downpour like we got last tuesday. either way, it looks like something has gone in there and poisoned the joint which isn't good.
Hi Chris
No appology necessary---- I thought thats what you intended; a little sarcasm.
I am sorry too--I was having a shot at things as well.
LOL
Ronnie
From a report by Dr Ben Diggles ( DigsFish Services Pty Ltd)
Luc
COMMENTS:
This fish kill is considered suspicious and is certainly not a “natural event”. The various species of fish and crabs observed were displaying behavioural signs typical of aquatic animals suffering from oxygen deprivation – ie. Erratic swimming near the surface with mouths at the air/water interface, congregation near the waters edge and jumping out of the water onto the bank. One moribund mullet that jumped out onto the bank was grossly examined for ectoparasites and a negative result was obtained. In the absence of a functioning calibrated oxygen meter I was unable to confirm the actual oxygen levels in the lake water or in the water coming from the pipe originating from the construction site. The water colour, in the lake was dark, but this is not unusual in coastal lakes in this area where a certain amount of tannin staining can occur. Low algal cell counts in water samples taken from the lake suggest that while algae are undoubtedly present, it appears unlikely that a significant algal bloom is occurring at this time. However, the behaviour of the surviving fish observed between 8.00 pm to 8.50 pm is notable. There were no live fish moving in the area immediately adjacent to site 1 where the water from the construction site was entering the southern end of the lake. Instead, the vast majority of the surviving small mullet were congregated further north along the eastern bank at sites D and E, where water temperatures and salinities were actually higher (29.3°C, 28.6 ppt). This strongly suggests that high water temperatures are not the primary cause of the kill, as the effluent ground water coming out of the pipe at site 1 was only 24.2°C, markedly cooler than the rest of the lake, and its salinity was only 15 ppt. Physical parameters of water dictate that cooler, less saline water can hold more oxygen than warm, salty water. But the surviving fish were avoiding the cooler, less saline water in this lake.
Fish when presented with temperature , salinity and oxygen gradients will move to areas most favourable to their survival. If warm water was the problem, the fish would be expected to avoid the hottest water, and instead would be expected to prefer the south end of the lake where the water is cooler and less saline (both conditions would favour higher oxygen levels under normal conditions). Instead, it was apparent that the surviving fish were avoiding the area surrounding the pipe outflow and actually preferred the hotter upwind (eastern) side of the lake further north. The prevailing east north east wind was pushing the effluent groundwater along the west side of the lake, as evidenced by the lower temperature and salinity readings on the west side. These physiochemical data and observations of behavior of affected fish strongly suggest the effluent groundwater is toxic to aquatic life and/or devoid of oxygen, the latter possibility supported by the pungent and distinctive hydrogen sulphide odour that is emanating from the effluent water from the pipe.
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is produced by bacteria in oxygen depleted (anoxic) conditions. It is particularly common in groundwater and can be very toxic to fish. Hydrogen sulphide is commonly found in mangrove muds and when disturbed will become oxidized. The consequent drop in pH can lead to the mobilization of heavy metals. Recommended guidelines for H2S in water used for rearing fish is less than 0.003 mg/L., with detection of any level of H2S considered highly undesirable (Australian and NZ National water quality guidelines, 2000)
While algal blooms (and associated algal toxins) due to nutrient enrichment from the effluent groundwater must be considered in the differential diagnosis as to the cause of the kill, I suggest that around 2 weeks (based on testimony of local residents) of draining ground water from the adjacent construction site into the southern area of the lake at a rate of 2 litres per second (7200 L/hr or 172,800 L/day) has introduced significant amounts of highly toxic H2S into the small, relatively shallow, but previously highly productive lake. The presence of the H2S (as indicated by its distinctive smell, which has been identified by local residents who have probably mistaken the rotten eggs smell for sewage), strongly suggests that the groundwater itself is anoxic, and probably toxic to aquatic life. This appears a more plausible explanation for the fish kill than high water temperatures and/or an algal bloom, considering the relatively low algal cell count in the water and especially considering that the surviving fish are actively avoiding the cooler southern area of the lake where the ground water inflow is occurring.
[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/David/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]Ben Diggles, PhD.
Thanks luc.
i will need to google this ben diggles fellow.
WOW, what a difference this story is to the ones i saw in the media. And here i was thinking it was carbon emmissions. it really annoys me whe how the media blur GW and AGW,and the way they immediatley suggest that any abnormal environmental observation is cuased by gw or worst still agw.
ECO fishers, might be worth contacting this guy?
it really annoys me more lampuki, that our mayor can come onto the tv and tell us that it was warm water when it was really poor construction practises and his council's lack of regulation/inspection that allowed this to happen. whether it was a contractor or the council doing the work, the council are responsible for the practises/methods on site. now i do a little bit of site work here and there and i do NOT! know of any construction site that is allowed to discharge their ground water into an adjacent waterway. i think mr sullivan is chucking a red herring out there to try and get the media off the council's scent. i'd be very interested to hear what the EPA's take is on this. deploy the ecofishers i reckon.
I see on the fishing world web site they have footage of the council or contractors pumping god only knows what into the lake directly ,what a digrace this is certainly not allowed by anybody . If you or i where caught discharging this sort of muck into an area like this the E.P.A would be all over you like a rash ,someone is going to get kicked hopefully for this disgrace ...matt
A bad days fishing has got to be better than any day at work......
Fairly incredible scenario as it crosses and adds to so much of what is our sickness over the Marine environment.
We have a fairly crumby lake, housing with lawn right onto it's perimeter with all things domestic/human happening, it has what looks like constricted tidal access even at the best of times, it has localised Angling pressure. Yet it was teeming with fish life of all size fractions, species, drop dead healthy(sorry) -no sores and quite fat.
Guaranteed many casual Anglers have either turned their noses up fishing that spot or done it half heartedly with low expectation but they where wrong.
Yet that lake because of its very position and type would be one of the most seriously at risk marine environments to be found in Australia, if not the most.
By contrast what does this say about the state of the rest of our Australian marine environment and of coarse the stocking levels...if we could see down like we can see across say a savannah many would have much calmer nerves.
IMHO it does a lot to cut through the popular crap on what really is the state of our marine environments.
cheers fnq
Probably not fair to be throwing brickbats at this particular Mayor, he is known to be a passionate and active fisho with a good track record on supporting fisheries. No doubt he was just as annoyed as the rest of us when he learned of what happened at Beachmere. In terms of the press statement I would guess that he was simply working off of the information supplied to him when preparing it and not looking for a cover up as suggested.
The real damage here is the fact that a nice little nursery/fishery is now out in the public domain and will no doubt become "loved" to death, if any fingers should be pointed it should be at whoever went running to the media, apparently to protect the fish in the first place? Either they didn't think too hard about the possible results of their actions or they didn't really care about the fishery in the first place and just used it as an excuse to do some council bashing.
There is a simple procedure to follow when these things occur and if they weren't getting any joy that way a call to the local councillor should have achieved the same thing.
And now - A case of biting the hand that feeds you.
A media release on the Qld Greens website.
Interesting to note that they too are quoting Ben Diggles.
http://qld.greens.org.au/beachmere-f...ater-pollution
Beachmere fish kill reflects government irresponsibility on water pollution
media release sent 25 November 2009
The Greens are sick of governments at all levels blaming the weather or
seasonal events for fish kills in SEQ waterways when irresponsible
effluent disposal practices and poor catchment management are primarily at
fault.
This has been seen most recently in the fish kill at the Biggs Ave lake at
Beachmere where the Moreton Bay Regional Council and the EPA are blaming hot
weather for the kill.
Greens spokesperson Dr Libby Connors said a report from a scientist on the
spot, Dr Ben Diggles, has targeted the groundwater effluent from a local
construction site being pumped into the lake as the villain. The water has
been pumped into the lake over the last two weeks.
"This water smells strongly of hydrogen sulphide, a pollutant common in
groundwater and toxic to fish and, in this case, mistaken for sewage by
local residents," Dr Connors said.
"Yesterday's lazy analysis by government officers has provided an easy way
out for the local council who have treated the lake as a dumping ground for
their polluted water.
"The hydrogen sulphide smell alone should have alerted them to the danger
of this effluent and caused them to look for a safer method of disposal.
"It is this sort of mentality by both State and Local governments that has
caused the quality of SEQ waterways to deteriorate so badly over the last
few years, with many getting an F rating."
Dr Connors is calling on the State Government to prosecute the Moreton Bay Regional
Council for causing environmental harm.
Contact: Dr Libby Connors 0429 487 110
hi shayned, i wasn't necessarilly having a go at him personally. i fully realise that he was not personally responsible, but part of his job description is that he is accountable for the actions, or inaction as the case may be, of the council. as such he is the person we can throw the brickbats at, i can assure you he will be kicking the @rses of people down the tree.
i disagree on the "going public" thing too, something like a fish kill was always going to go public considering the complete lack of action by the authorities on the decline in water quality of our estuaries over the decades. this was never going to be a hush hush job that they'd be just talking about up at the pub, it was always going to be on the public record and shoved firmly up the date of the local council who have let this happen.
g'day sea dog, we shouldn't adopt the "us and them" attitude with the greens on these pollution matters. they are actually very professional in their approach and it's heartening to see that they are maybe not as "tied up" politically as people may think. as i have said in other posts, we as responsible anglers and boaties have got very similar goals to the more "mainstream" greens and clean water is one of these goals.
I have to disagree with you on the public think, any number of fish kills in a year never make it into the mainstream press, I can think of 5 instances in my local area over the last 3 years which never made it. So I don't think you can make a broad sweeping statement saying that it was going to happen anyway. These items only become news when someone pushes that particular barrow.
There are times where this is necessary, unfortunately I don't believe this was one of those times, as potentially, the long term result for this nursery/fishery will be a lot worse than a one time fish kill.
However, I do agree about the water quality issue, only I would prefer that it was fishos setting and running that agenda. Also putting some on ground work in as well would be good to see. After all, every fishery to some degree relies on the quality of our catchments.
UPDATE.....................
here's the latest.
Was there ever any danger they'd find no sewage problem with the fish kill .
It would have been a better idea for a private authority to have collected samples at the same time the govt lab did and ran their own testing.
The green dept would never find against the govt!!!
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/envi...1215-kt1z.html
surprise surprise ....................
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