MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews have sprayed recycled water into Biscayne Bay to help oxygenate the water days after a fish kill saw tens of thousands of dead fish floating on the water.
7News cameras captured fire boats spraying water off Morningside Park, a hot spot for the fish kill, on Saturday.
Scientists at Florida International University said recent data shows conditions improving in the bay.
“I’m much more happy about what today’s data looked like, and things seem to be turning around,” said Todd Crowl, the executive director of FIU’s Institute of Environment. “Thursday night, we literally had zero oxygen in the places that we were sampling. Today, it’s more like 60% saturation, so that’s really great news. Everybody is going to be OK at 60% oxygen.”
According to experts, fish kills are common during the summer, and it is caused by a lack of oxygen due to warm water.
Jillian Smith spent her Saturday cleaning out the waters of Biscayne Bay days after the fish kill had occurred.
”It’s really sad to see this,” Smith said. “Even the water looks different. It smells different. There must be about 50 carcasses here.”
Smith said she grew up in Miami and has spent most of her life on the water. For her, seeing tens of thousands of dead fish floating in Biscayne Bay is heartbreaking, but she hopes the recent increase in oxygen saturation continues.
“I have two daughters, and it’s really sad for me to know that they can’t jump in the water and enjoy it like I did,” she said. “This is their home, and it makes me sad because this is going to devastate our local fishery.”
Officials said the water temperature has decreased, and firefighters will be recycling the water as long as its needed.
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