Friday, June 19, 2009

Dead fish at Kranji beach: Poisoned by polluted waters?

Dead fish at Kranji beach: Poisoned by polluted waters?
STOMPer Angler saw all these dead fish washed ashore the beach at Kranji Reservoir Park, and wonders if they were poisoned by the polluted waters. He says:

"These pictures were taken during low tide at the beach at Kranji Reservoir Park at Kranji Way.

"I was surprised to see so many dead fish washed ashore on the beach.

"Were these fish poisoned or did they die because of the polluted waters?

"A crab and a mussel have died but they leave behind the carapace and the shells.

"The Johor coast can be seen from here as the Johor strait is very narrow."

Dead fish at Kranji beach: Poisoned by polluted waters?
Dead fish at Kranji beach: Poisoned by polluted waters?
Dead fish at Kranji beach: Poisoned by polluted waters?

Related posts: Marine life destroyed by massive pollution at Kranji Reservoir (30th May 2009)

If the pollution was really so bad, I'm sure a lot more marine life would be dying and washing up on the beach.

It's very hard to draw conclusions based on these few pictures, but I think it's far more likely that these fishes were discarded by anglers. The colour of the bits of crab shell suggests that they have gone through some cooking, while I think the solitary mussel shell isn't notable enough to be evidence for or against pollution. If the entire shore is carpeted with dead fishes and crabs and mussel shells, than maybe we can consider pollution to be a likely cause.

6 dead fish, a crab, and a mussel certainly do not make a mass death.