(Photo: Eric Bruce Hewey/Facebook)
The cause of a fish kill in Western Nova remains a mystery.
At first thousands of dead herring began washing up on beaches along St. Mary’s Bay.
Earlier this week dead lobster, scallops, starfish and other marine life were found along the coast near Plympton, Digby County.
DFO, in a series of tweets, says no significant pathology was detected during microscopic examinations of tissue samples.
No infections or infectious agents detected so far, after extensive testing. Some results are expected to be completed soon
— DFO Maritimes (@DFO_MAR) December 28, 2016
Regional Director of Fisheries Management Doug Wentzell says all tests have come back negative so far.
“While we do have a few tests that are outstanding, everything has come back negative so far. There is a lot of speculation about other causes. We are going to be working through all of that in the next week or so, because we want to make sure we are thorough in our examination of this.”
Tests performed on blood samples indicated that the fish were not anemic and showed no evidence of viral agents
— DFO Maritimes (@DFO_MAR) December 28, 2016
Wentzell says DFO plans to carry out more extensive testing with some results expected to be completed soon.
“We’ve got a remote censor team that has a number of censors in the Bay. Over the next day or so if weather cooperates, we hope to do some underwater video investigation, monitoring and samples.”
Tests and analysis are being carried out related to infection, disease, toxins, and water quality.
