Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up on Long Island shore; Officials testing water

RIVERHEAD (WABC) -- Long Island officials are testing water samples taken from the Peconic Estuary after tens of thousands of dead and dying bunker fish washed ashore over the weekend.

Reports came in from all over, including at Indian Island County Park just off Flanders Bay. Environmentalists believe pollution in the water caused lower oxygen levels that killed the fish.

It looked like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, with an immeasurable number of fish littering the shores of the East End.

"I think it's a symptom of a much larger problem with water pollution," said Kevin McAllister, of Defend H2O. "We're seeing excessive nitrogen loads coming in from fertilizers, as well as residential septic systems."

Just two weeks, ago more than 100 Diamondback Terrapins washed up around the same locations. And environmentalists can't help but think it's all related.

"I hope people this is a bit of wake up call," McAllister said. "I hope people look beyond 'this is just a fish kill' but understand that this is a bigger regional water pollution issue."

The Department of Environmental Conservation is testing the water, and right now, there doesn't appear to be a threat to humans.

"We're going to be working with the DEC and the Suffolk County health department to make sure there's continued testing," legislator Albert Krupski said.

People who live in the area say they've seen this type of fish die-off before, but never like this. They're concerned what it all means for marine life.

"This is the first time I've seen it as bad as this," Riverhead resident Gayle Wagner said. "Never as bad as this. Last time, there were a few."

Marine scientists say the decaying bunker could contribute to decreased oxygen levels.

"If they're suffocating for lack of oxygen, that concerns me," Laurel resident Bill Egan said. "Because they could all die off, and that would upset the apple cart."

Stony Brook University marine science professor Christopher Gobler says there are small fish kills every year, but says this one is not normal. He says six straight hours of zero oxygen were recorded at a point in the Peconic Estuary Thursday night into Friday, and that "nothing can survive in that."

The fish started appearing Thursday in the Peconic River, Meeting House Creek and Saw Mill Creek.

Experts say it is not easy to do necropsies on fish, but testing is underway on the carcasses of those turtles to figure out what killed them. As for the cleanup, the water washed away a lot of the fish already. Officials say the rest will most likely be buried underneath the sand on the beach.