Many species of fish living around the Florida Keys archipelago, Florida, USA, are exhibiting extremely unusual behaviors before dying, causing scientists to worry and are having a headache finding an explanation.
This strange phenomenon was first discovered by American diver Gregg Furstenwerth last November, when he dived into the waters off the Florida Keys archipelago, Florida, USA.
Here, Gregg saw a grouper swimming with difficulty, repeatedly swimming upside down, forming a circle before stopping and dying. Notably, Gregg then encountered a few fish of other species doing the same thing before dying.
Gregg was so surprised and curious about what happened that he used his underwater camera to record images of the behavior of these fish. Gregg then shared these videos on social networks to ask netizens about the fish’s strange behavior.
Video of fish behaving unusually before dying off the coast of Florida (Video: Gregg Furstenwerth).
These videos attracted the attention of scientists, causing them to investigate. Recently, the results of the investigation showed that up to 44 different species of fish living within 56km (35 miles) around the Florida Keys archipelago are affected by this strange phenomenon, including small sawtooth fish. , one of the fish species at risk of extinction.
Their common characteristic is swimming around in a circle or turning around continuously before dying.
However, scientists still cannot know the cause of this strange phenomenon in fish species.
“Everyone wants to know what causes the fish around the Florida Keys to behave so strangely, but we can’t give an answer yet. We will do our best to determine it together.” reasons leading to this strange phenomenon in order to come up with appropriate solutions,” marine scientist Alison Robertson shared.
“It’s puzzling that such a strange phenomenon can last and affect so many different species,” Robertson added.
Although it is not yet possible to determine the cause of the problem, scientists are trying to rule out implausible causes.
Small sawtooth fish, an endangered fish, was also affected by a strange phenomenon that caused at least 21 individuals to die (Photo: Doug Perrine).
Initially, many scientists believed that “red tide” was the cause of the strange behavior of fish. “Red tide” is a phenomenon where algae blooms in the natural environment in large quantities, taking place in rivers or seas. Depending on the type of algae, the surrounding river or sea water will change color, it can be red, blue or purple…
Some types of algae can produce toxins during their growth process. When algae die, these toxins are released into the water environment, harming other organisms in the ecosystem, causing mass deaths of marine species.
However, scientists said they have not recorded a “red tide” phenomenon appearing around the Florida Keys. Additionally, they did not detect unusually high temperatures, low oxygen levels or parasites in the affected fish.
“Fish deaths are a common occurrence. But in this case, we cannot explain the cause of mass fish deaths. That is the strangeness of this phenomenon,” said marine ecology expert Michael Parsons. from the University of Florida, shared.
Scientists are still very actively researching to try to find the exact reason why fish behave abnormally before dying.
Theo UL/IN
