Cleanup crews were dispatched to beaches in Hancock County, Mississippi, on December 27th to remove over a thousand dead fish and the remains of other animals.

Scientists attributed the fish kill to a “red tide” algae bloom that took hold in early December. It won’t go away until temperatures drop and fresh water from the north spilling out from the Mississippi moves through the area.

”Red tides produce neurotoxins that affect not only marine life, but humans who can breathe it in when it is aerosolized by wave action,” Jennifer Hecker, director of natural resource policy for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, wrote on a social media post about the fish kill. “Some scientists believe exposure can contribute to human nervous disorders such as Parkinson’s…not just an eyesore.”

Although red tides are a natural occurrence along the Gulf Coast, they don’t occur in the winter. The record-breaking temperatures and less than average rainfall have created favorable conditions for the red tide.

“Nutrients from fertilizer, human wastewater, and animal waste all contribute to increasing severity and duration of red tide events,” Hecker wrote.

Black drum fish pickup off the beach in Waveland, Mississippi. ©2015 Julie Dermansky

Two days later I caught up with a crew as they hoisted large black drum fish into a Caterpillar vehicle following behind them. Once full, the Caterpillar operator dumped the fish into a truck following along side on the road that parallels the beach.

Cleanup crew picking up black drum fish in Waveland, Mississippi. ©2015 Julie Dermansky

Caterpillar operator dumping fish in a truck in in Waveland, Mississippi. ©2015 Julie Dermansky

Most of the fish being picked up were black drum fish, some weighing as much as 50 pounds. The waters off Hancock County are the species’ breeding ground and their spawning period is about to begin, so schools continue to swim into the area.

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