Here’s why thousands of dead fish are stinking up this NJ town
NEW JERSEY - NJ officials have responded after our sister station, FOX 29 Philadelphia, reached out to get down to the bottom of a fishy smell permeating throughout Little Egg Harbor Township.
A rotten smell has been filling the air in the township, as thousands of dead fish are filling one lagoon and attracting tons of seagulls.
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish & Wildlife Department, the high fish mortality in the lagoon is due to poor water quality.
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Thousands of dead fish cause rotten smell, seagull infestation in NJ town
A rotten smell is filling the air in Little Egg Harbor, NJ and some people say the cause has been popping up in the water. Dead fish are filling one lagoon and attracting tons of seagulls near Osborn Island.
"Staff determined that poor water quality resulting from warmer temperatures and low dissolved oxygen in the lagoon resulted in the fish mortality in the lagoon," a statement from the NJDEP said.
Now that tens of thousands of dead fish have filled the lagoon on Osborn Island, neighbors say the smell is too strong to bare.
"It's definitely unhealthy. You can't go outside. You can't breathe. You really can't stay outside more than 10 minutes," said Joseph DiGrande, a resident of Little Egg Harbor Township.
And the fish aren’t the only issue – "The birds also are a problem because now everything is covered in bird poop and feathers and its just another gross add on," said Rayna Pelcak, another resident of Little Egg Harbor Township.
"Fish & Wildlife staff determined that this was an isolated event, and most of the dead fish will naturally be removed from the lagoon by the tides, or by tide flow," the NJDEP statement concluded.
FOX 29 Philadelphia helped contribute to this report.