A large number of fish washed up dead along a portion of Texas' Gulf coast due to low dissolved oxygen, Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) said on Monday.
"According to the Kills and Spills Team in Region 3, the fish kill was investigated and it was determined to have been caused by a low dissolved oxygen event," the state park said in a statement. "The species most impacted was Gulf menhaden."
According to the statement, fish kills like this are common in the summer when temperatures increase. If there isn't enough oxygen in the water, fish can't "breathe," the statement said.
Quintana Beach County Park said hundreds of thousands of fish may have died, but the fish kill event is over and the beach has been cleaned up.
Low dissolved oxygen in many cases is a natural occurrence, and increased dissolved oxygen during the day is a result of photosynthesis which is caused by sunlight, the statement said.
Before a kill event occurs, fish can be seen trying to get oxygen by gulping at the surface of the water early in the morning, the statement said.
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