Hypoxia suspected in Buoy Key Fish Kill

The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post are reporting that a large fish kill in the Everglades near Buoy Key is likely due to hypoxia driven by an increase in water temperature:

• Heat may have killed fish in Florida Bay

The chief of biological resources at Everglades National Park said the thousands of fish floating dead in Florida Bay this week may have died from the heat.
Thousands of fish popped up dead this week in Florida Bay -- possible victims of what might be described as a marine version of heat stroke.

The fish kill was unusually large for the waters of Everglades National Park, with floating redfish, snook and other species covering nearly 20 acres in between Buoy Key and the coast, said Dave Hallac, the park's chief of biological resources.

• Scientists: Heat wave may be to blame for killing thousands of fish in Florida Bay

Thousands of dead fish bobbed to the surface of Florida Bay this week, an unusually large kill that scientists are blaming partly on hot weather.

The dead fish - snook, redfish, mullet and even the tougher catfish - surfaced suddenly and mysteriously along with tangles of dead sea-grass blades across 20 acres of the north-central bay near Buoy Key, about five miles off Florida's mangrove-lined southern coastline.