Sund Rock Low O2 Mon Sept 27th
While some of this may appear normal to non-Pacific NW divers, it is most certainly NOT normal. Fish are out of their usual depth ranges (usually found deeper) and all clustered within 15 feet of the surface of the water. They are up so high in the water column because this is the only area that contains oxygen. There are also freakishly huge schools - we don't usually see that many at once. Fish that normally hide were found out in the open, lethargic and "panting". See comments under each photo or video for details. Each video clip is about one minute or less.
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The top three feet under the surface are occupied by hundreds of small silvery Shiner Perch. Under them are hundreds of schooling Black and Copper Rockfish - densely packed and hardly moving. (to conserve energy). It is very unusual to see SO MANY of these fish together. All of this is in 9 feet of water or less. (The top number you see on my dive computer is the depth).
Larry
on Sep 28There are a few other reports surfacing about lethargic fish behavior, including die offs... apparently linked to high CO2 and low Oxygen saturation... it looks like 2100 has arrived early... please also upload your video, with description (please include: CO2, oxygen, ocean acidification. lethargic fish) to YouTube.com... as the corporate controlled "news" networks will not air this information: http://ecodelmar.org/ocean_acidification