Officials aren’t sure what caused this large fish kill along the Des Moines River and did not appear to be aware of it when contacted Wednesday.
Ottumwa - Why are there hundreds of dead fish lining the banks of a cove along the Des Moines River near Eddyville?
Local residents don't have that answer, but they did report the finned casualties to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. One of them, Stephenie Dobson, reported the oddity to the Courier and sent along a photo on Facebook.
David Dobson of Eddyville said he likes to fish the area that's south of Hardfish Landing and west of the railroad trestle, both on the eastern side of the river.
Dobson said he went fishing after the storm on Sunday.
"I've fished here before. Everything was normal right before Thanksgiving last November," he said. "This past Sunday was the first time I'd gone fishing there since the weather warmed up."
Dobson guided a reporter across a field, through the timber and to the cove where layers of dead fish lined the banks. Carp, channel catfish and gars were just a few of the species. The fish kill appeared to be limited to a relatively small area, with no obvious carcasses on the opposite bank.
There was evidence that other critters were sampling the free food along the bank.
Dobson said he left messages with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and hopes they will call back. He'd like to know what caused the problem.
The Courier first contacted Kurt Baker, the conservation director for Wapello County. Baker said he hadn't heard anything about a problem in the Eddyville area and recommended calling Mark Flammang, a fisheries biologist at Rathbun Lake.
When asked about the dead fish in a Des Moines River cove near Eddyville, Flammang said he hadn't heard about it, either.
GASP! No local explanation for the massive fish die-off? It's about time! Now maybe someone will start looking at outgassing as the possible reason due to the global geologic upheavals taking place at startling speeds. The fish in many areas of the world have jumped out of the water in attempts to escape whatever is killing them. So perhaps hot mud volcano's are forming beneath the waves?