WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Dead Fish at Pond Worry Some Local Fishermen
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Weather has had a big effect on the wildfires in south Georgia, but it's also having an effect on lakes and ponds here in the Coastal Empire.
It may or may not be the ideal place to relax for some, but for Alan Tompkins, a pond behind Public Works off Sallie Mood Drive in Savannah is his home away from home.
"This pond is recreation," he said. "Get off of work, grab your son and come on down and fish and enjoy the environment."
Tompkins has been casting his line and catching the best this water has to offer for nearly two decades, but on Wednesday, what he noticed made him sick to his stomach. Plenty of lifeless large-mouth bass and gizzard shad.
"I came out here and saw a bunch of fish dead and wondered what the cause was," said Tompkins.
Tompkins first thought was maybe it was the debris-filled dump near the pond.
"I was concerned that some type of chemical got in this pond and killed our fish," said Tompkins.
So Tompkins contacted the Department of Georgia Natural Resources. One biologist with the DNR said he came to test the waters out here earlier in the week to find out what was going on with all the fish and why they were dying. What he found was that cooler temperatures could be to blame.
"We'll have a storm like the one that just came through here and those cooler temperatures can kill out the phytoplankton and that decomposing material can take oxygen out of the water," explained biologist Joel Fleming. "Which is what we think happened."
Since the dead fish washed up on the shoreline, the turkey vultures have had a feast. But Tompkins said it's all about returning the pond to its glory days.
"It's all about saving this water so our kids can enjoy it later on," he said.
Despite the weather, nature eventually will.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the weather did not kill out the entire population of fish in the pond and the phytoplankton population booms and busts happen naturally every year, so they expect the county pond to make a full recovery.
Reported by: David Hall, dhall@wtoc.com
