Clean-up crews at a Texas beach park spent the weekend clearing the coastline after thousands of dead fish washed ashore due to a “low dissolved oxygen event”. Footage shared on social media showed thousands of dead fish scattered for miles down the coast. The lack of oxygen caused thousand of Gulf menhaden to wash up along the Gulf Coast shoreline. “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',” Quintana Beach County Park said in a statement. The county said that before such an event fish try to receive oxygen by “gulping” at the surface of the water in the early morning or by lying at the water's edge. Officials said warm water contributed to the event as it does not hold as much oxygen as cooler seas. Calmer seas and cloudy skies also contributed to the throngs of fish appearing on the coastline. “In a nutshell, it was the perfect storm to deplete the oxygen levels inshore,” a statement from Quintana Beach County Park said.
