A grim sight on a beach in the Lublin province. Hundreds of dead fish were packed in bags.
On the shore of Lake Ściegienne in Lublin Province, bags of dead fish were placed. The matter was resolved on social media by Wody Polskie.
On a small beach on Lake Ściegienne in the Lublin region, dozens of bags of dead fish were laid out. The whole thing was covered with foil to spare local residents from the grim sight. However, an RMF FM reporter assured that despite the ecological disaster, the lake was “peaceful, as if nothing had happened.”
Dead fish on the shore of a lake in Lublin
As explained, the reason for the mass fish kill in this reservoir was the so-called suffocation. This refers to the drop in oxygen content in the water, which can occur at high temperatures when a lot of algae grows in the lake. There are of course ways to combat this phenomenon, such as using special aeration pumps.
Polish Waters RZGW Lublin responded to the matter on their official Facebook profile. “The heatwaves that have been going on for weeks are unfortunately causing fish kills. This week, this phenomenon occurred in two water bodies: in Lake Ściegienne (Uścimów commune), which belongs to the District Office in Lubartów and is leased by Polish Waters as Fishing District No. 8, and in the water reservoir in Krynice (Krynice commune), which belongs to Polish Waters but is leased by the District Board of the Polish Angling Association in Zamość,” it was reported.
Lightning struck the lake’s surface?
“An additional cause of the fish kill in Lake Ściegienne, apart from the high temperature, could have been the impact of electrical discharges on the water surface during recent storms. Employees of the Regional Water Management Board in Lublin, together with the Polish Angling Association and the State Fisheries Guard, were currently catching dead fish, the situation is also monitored by the Provincial Environmental Protection Inspectorate, which took water samples for testing, but no other causes of fish kill were found, other than natural causes,” the statement continues.
“Additionally, the Krynice reservoir was regularly aerated with specialist fire pumps. Currently, the oxygen level in both reservoirs has reached the required standards. At the moment (July 18, 3:30 p.m.), the Krynice reservoir has been completely cleared of dead fish, while on Lake Ściegienne, catching is ongoing,” officials reported.