China: Hainan province’s ‘Red Lake’ turned silver by 35 tons of dead fish

At least 35 tons of fish carcasses floating in the 'Red Lake' in Haikou City. Image via People's Daily

9th May 2016

A LAKE in China became mysteriously inundated with at least 35 tons of dead fish last week, baffling  local residents and authorities.

The masses of dead fish reportedly washed up in the ‘Red Lake’ of Haikou City, in the southern province of Hainan, early on Wednesday morning.

The People’s Daily reported that experts credited the phenomenon to a change in salinity levels in the water, although local residents have expressed concern about pollution in the lake.

Regional environment officials are investigating the deaths. Although the type of fish is unknown, the news website described the fish as “half a palm-sized”, and noted there was no obvious smell in the lake or surrounding areas.

The following day, 40 sanitation workers began working to clean up the lake, with an additional 10 working around the area to warn residents not to touch the carcasses.

Image via People’s Daily

It took sanitation workers five hours to trash 20 tons of the fish.

The provincial government immediately took action upon hearing about the incident, ordering a full investigation.

The incident appears similar to mass fish deaths in Vietnam, where tons of carcasses have been washing up on the coastline since early April.

Last week, the Vietnamese government called in about 100 scientists to investigate the phenomenon, which has affected hundreds of thousands of families living in fishing villages there.

The phenomenon has been dubbed an “environmental disaster”.