Fish Possible Victims of Earthquake?

So, maybe there were some local victims of Tuesday's earthquake after all.

That's a possibility Loganville resident Carl Wiessel can't help but wonder about. Wiessel woke up Wednesday morning to find 60 or 70 dead fish floating in his pond. The small lake, located off Broadnax Mill Road and Lake Edmund Drive, is home to several different species of fish, including large catfish, smaller brim and crappie and largemouth Bass. It was the Bass that suffered the most, as nearly all the deceased fish were Bass.

"I've been taking care of this lake for 18 years," Wiessel said. "I've never seen anything like this."

Wiessel said he called the Environmental Protection Agency and they wouldn't address an issue that was contained on private property, unless there was a problem upstream or downstream.

So he called the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife division. He was told the likely cause was a phenomenon known as "stratification." Typically, the warm water in a pond is near the surface, while the colder air is near the bottom. Stratification occurs when these temperatures suddenly invert for a brief time. This causes an abrupt drop in oxygen near the bottom, causing the fish there to effectively suffocate. Hardier species such as catfish will be less affected as the large bass that prefer the cooler waters near the pond bottom. Authorities say it is a more common occurrence than one might think.

Still, given the timing of the demise of his fish population being so soon after the earthquake, Wiessel isn't so sure it's a coincidence.

"I just wonder if it might have had something to do with it," he said.

There may never be a way to be certain. In the meantime, Wiessel is left to clean up the mess. He spent Thursday removing the dead fish out of his lake. A pile of them was accumulating on the shore.

"I guess the buzzards will eat good for a few days," Wiessel said.

Editor's Note: Terence Smith of Aqua-Scientific Research, Inc. responded to this story as follows: "What you have had happen in your pond is known as Stercoma nosification, very rare but surely the DNR should have been familiar with this... It probably was due to the earthquake. This usually is caused and seen around large construction sites that may shake or vibrate the ground similar to the small tremors caused and felt by this earthquake.