Thousands of dead fish wash up along Texas coast, disturbing photos show. Here’s why

Thousands of dead fish are washing up along a stretch of Texas coast, covering beaches in decay, photos show.

The dead fish, primarily menhaden, can be seen floating in the surf and laying in the sand, completely smothering entire sections of beach, photos shared by Quintana Beach County Park show.

“We do advise that the public does not come to the beach until the fish have been removed. Since this event is occurring now, and fish are still washing in, we can’t say when the removal process can begin,” the park said in a June 9 Facebook post.

The photos left many feeling alarmed and disgusted, wondering what could cause so many fish to die all at once.

A “perfect storm” of conditions is likely to blame, the park said.

Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department determined that “low dissolved oxygen” in the water killed the fish, according to the post.

Water off the coast warmed up recently, and warm water holds less oxygen than cold, officials said.

“When water temperature rises above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes hard for menhaden to receive enough oxygen to survive,” the post said. “Shallow waters warm more quickly than deeper, so if a school of menhaden are trapped in the shallows as the water begins to heat, the fish will start to suffer from hypoxia.”

To make matters worse, seas have been calm, which results in less oxygen entering the water through surface mixing, officials said. Also, overcast skies have deprived oxygen-producing phytoplankton and macroalgae of sunlight.

“So in nutshell, it was the perfect storm to deplete the oxygen levels inshore,” the post said.

Officials have been working to clear the beaches of dead fish and while the worst of it has been dealt with, they are still recommending that people avoid the impacted beaches for a few more days.

Quintana Beach County Park is roughly 65 miles south of downtown Houston.

This story was originally published June 12, 2023 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Thousands of dead fish wash up along Texas coast, disturbing photos show. Here’s why."