Thousands of fish die in Nevada marina

Thousands of fish have died in the Sparks Marina in Nevada and now wildlife officials are trying to determine exactly why.

According to the Associated Press, the Nevada Department of Wildlife estimates 100,000 trout, bass and catfish have died over the past month.

The Reno Gazette-Journal has reported that when the fish began to wash ashore last month, scientists believed that it was only a small portion of the man-made lake’s population. On Monday, however, testing found that the oxygen levels in the water were unusually low. It’s likely that the remainder of the population sank to the bottom, NDOW spokesman Chris Healy said.

While biologists have confirmed the low oxygen levels to be the cause of death for the marina’s fish, the question remains of how the oxygen levels in the water became so depleted in the first place?

And could this year’s cold snap in Reno have changed the levels so much that it caused such an enormous die-off?

All the fish in the 77-acre lake are believed to be dead and the lake will not be re-stocked with more fish until the levels are safe again.