Major die-off of gizzard shad on the Chicago lakefront

[Pathfinder]

Major die-off of fish along lakefront

<!-- Start By-Line -->BY DALE BOWMAN <!-- FileInclude:Normal, /csp/cms/sites/STM/assets/includes/timefix/timefix.csp --><STYLE>.hideTime { DISPLAY: none}</STYLE><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>$(document).ready(function() { $('.jqueryTime').each(function() { var text = $(this).html(); var first_letter = text.substr(0,1); if (first_letter == 0) { $(this).html('' + first_letter + '' + text.slice(1)); } }); });</SCRIPT>Jan 11, 2011 10:10AM

A bizarre scene is evolving on the Chicago lakefront, with Canada geese and mallard ducks gulping down dead or dying gizzard shad.

A major die-off of what appears to be the 2010 class is happening in Chicago harbors. Thousands, perhaps far more than that, of dead gizzard shad in the 3- to 5-inch range are frozen in the ice of Chicago harbors or floating around in open patches of water.

?Gizzard shad are pretty sensitive,?? Lake Michigan Program biologist Dan Makauskas said. ?On the toughness scale, the herrings are pretty soft.??

Read more:
http://www.suntimes.com/3248260-417/shad-chicago-gizzard-harbors-die.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Major die-off of gizzard shad on the Chicago lakefront

Thousands of herring-type fish dead along Chicago lakefront

CHICAGO | Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:56pm EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of dead gizzard shad, a small fish of the herring family, are frozen in ice or floating in open patches of water along the Chicago lakefront in what could be a weather related die-off.

A local lake fish expert said on Tuesday that while it's unusual to see so many of the fish along the lakefront, it's hard to say if the size of the die-off is unusual, or just more visible because of a thaw December 31 that brought them to the surface.

"It's not an unusual event at all for gizzard shad to do this," said Dan Makauskas, project manager at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "We just haven't seen it around here."

Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70A5BM20110111

 

[Emily]

Re: Major die-off of gizzard shad on the Chicago lakefront

There are some Coast Guard photos at the link below of a frozen lighthouse in another of the Great Lakes. (To really appreciate how severe conditions are you can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1077128