Temple Community Puzzled Over Dead Fish Pond

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It's a mystery that has people in Central Texas scratching their heads.

Hundreds of fish turning up dead in a Temple pond this weekend.

When lifelong Temple angler Eloy Machuca came to Miller Park today he saw something he didn't expect.

"I come down here to release some fish, usually little ones so kids can catch them, but I've never seen this many," Machua said.

What he saw were dead catfish hundreds of them.

"I would say 90 percent of them are dead."

The fish are floating around the edge of the pond and already starting to rot.

Just walking around the outside edge of this pond more than 300 dead fish were counted, a lot of them in a really gross muck.

But the question remains: how did they die?

According to Machua, "When you've got public access, there's just no telling what it could be."

Sue Goodwin owns a tropical fish store in Waco.

She said that most likely it's a lack of oxygen in the water suffocating the fish.

But what caused that lack of air is anyone's guess.

"It could have been too crowded, it could have gotten too hot, could have lost their oxygen, or somebody could have tampered with it by pouring a chemical in it."

Something as simple as maybe soap or oil.

There's also a lot of algae in the pond which robs the fish of oxygen.

It's even possible some chlorine leaked from the nearby splash pads.

And once you have a few die, it starts fouling the water and it gets the rest of them."

"I would love to see them figure out exactly what it is that's going on with these fish so that people can enjoy, can continue to enjoy the park and the water." said Temple resident Dana Everett.

But it's unclear just what it will take to do that.

Another turn in this mystery, the geese and turtles who call the pond home don't seem to have been affected.

Since it's the weekend multiple calls to Temple Parks and Leisure and the local game warden went unanswered.

We'll continue to follow this story and bring you more information as we get it.