Something’s fishy in Howard Beach

Only a handful of dead fish remained after the city picked up hundreds of dead fish that washed up in the corner of the bay near the CVS Pharmacy and Gold’s Gym of Howard Beach.
“Two nights ago, it was full of them,” Omar Pena of Ozone Park, who was also at CVS on Saturday, said on Monday, September 1st. “This whole corner was full of fish. From here to two days ago, there is nothing here.”
Kyron Robinson, who works at CVS, said that forty to fifty dead fish have been coming and going with the tide for the past two weeks.
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesperson Mike Saucier confirmed that about 10 cubic yards of dead fish were removed from the water over the weekend.
A slight smell still lingered on Monday after most of the dead fish that lay on the surface of the water and the small corner of land were taken away.
“It smells a little bit,” said Michael Falcone of Lindenwood. “It’s a shame.”
Still, the smell does not compare to the stench present on Saturday, said Pena. “It was nasty,” he said. “It smelled like an outdoor fish market in a 100 degree day. I don’t know what could have killed so many fish.”
Many residents of the area pointed their fingers at contaminated water. “I would think it’s pollution or some sort of chemicals in the water,” Falcone said.
Pollutants were not the culprit in this case. The DEP’s theory is something more natural, Saucier said. “Sometimes you get this situation where bluefish chase fish into an area where they normally don’t go and there isn’t enough oxygen,” he said. This causes the fish to suffocate.
“It happens now and then, maybe once a year,” Saucier said. He did not recall it happening recently in Howard Beach, but he said it has happened in Staten Island and Brighton Beach. He added that DEP would continue investigating the cause of the deaths.
Although the sight and smell of the fish was horrible, at least one group benefited from the situation, Pena said. “The seagulls are having a ball.”