Thousands Of Dead Fish Found In Oceanport Creek: Reports

Thousands of dead fish washed up near boats in docks in Oceanport Creek, Parker's Creek and Blackberry Creek in Oceanport, according to reports. Predatory fish pursued the large school of menhaden, and the oxygen likely depleted in the shallow water, state environmental officials told nj.com.

"Normally, we do have this happening on a yearly basis, but not to the extent we had this year," Mario Criscione, owner of Marina at Oceanport, told News 12 New Jersey. "So Friday, there was nothing, and Saturday you had this whole event."

Officials took water samples and confirmed low dissolved oxygen, DEP spokesman Larry Hajna told nj.com. Local officials tried removing as many fish as possible, and the rest will decompose and eventually sink, nj.com reported.

Menhaden are a key ocean prey species and "important to the food web," Hajna told nj.com.

Clean Ocean Action, which identifies pollution sources and communicates with public officials about the issue, posted a fish-kill alert Sunday afternoon for the Oceanport Creek. They said to call 877-warndep to report and cite specific locations with pictures.