This is a very tragic story. I do recall seeing my first very large tarpon in the Keys that had died. Very sad.
There is another story, that I have been studying, that is taking place in the North Atlantic to such species as Cod and Atlantic Salmon. The food source for these fish, as well as others, needs very cold environments to be in abundance. Minor changes make a difference. The cod and salmon need the abundance of the food source to grow in numbers and size and not bypass critical mass at sea. This has been also happening to Pacific Salmon as well. There are massive schools of jelly fish that have never been seen so far north off the coast of Ireland. There is a reason why the Striped bass are now found as far north as the Restigouche River in Quebec during summer.
The North Atlantic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation have now been studied and directly associated to an overall warming trend for the North Atlantic. They have also been directly associated to the availability of cod and salmon. These are sort of like El Niño but not exactly the same. Right now we have been in a negative or cold oscillation period that started in October. This resulted in the record snow and cold that was seen in Europe. There are always spikes one way or the other and it could change today. If this trend were to continue for the balance of this winter, I would expect to see an increase of Atlantic salmon for the 2010 season. You heard it here.
The sad reality is that over the last 40 years, for whatever reason I don't care, the trend has been increasingly positive or warmer. The North Atlantic has seen a fish kill due to temperature in the multi millions of cod and salmon over this time.
They are not being seen dead. They are just not being seen.
William
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