REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - A Delaware environmental official said hundreds of dead fish were likely decomposing for days before washing ashore Delmarva beaches over the weekend.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Fisheries Administrator Craig Shirey said the fish were not processed and do not appear to be the result of a fish kill.
Instead, Shirey suggested the fish may have come from a broken fish net or a spill by a commercial vessel.
But his guess is just a guess, and one of many after hundreds of dead menhaden arrived in Rehoboth Beach on Saturday and Ocean City on Sunday.
Lifeguards up and down the Delmarva coast said the fish were nowhere to be found by Monday. Both beaches had been cleaned. Some places, like Dewey Beach, did not see any fish.
Rehoboth Beach Patrol Captain Kent Buckson said city cleaning crews bagged at least 500 dead fish on Saturday afternoon. Buckson said many of the fish were headless and tailless. The captain guessed they may have been dumped by a commercial fishing vessel.
Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin said his lifeguards first noticed the menhaden floating off the coast on Sunday morning. By evening, town employees collected several hundred dead fish but Arbin did not have an exact number. Some of the largest numbers were reported around 94th Street to 112th Street, Arbin said.
Some accounts placed the number of dead Menhaden in the thousands, but Buckson and Arbin estimated several hundred each on their beaches.
Shirey said the heads and tails likely fell off as part of the natural decaying process. The menhaden have little flesh connecting their tail to the body, making it one of the first parts to disconnect, Shirey said. The fisheries administrator also said processing boats would not cut off the heads and tails as part of normal operations.
Water off the peninsula has not experienced unusual changes in temperature or salinity in recent days making a fish kill unlikely, Shirey said.
The beach patrol said the water was safe to swim. While bigger fish often prey on menhaden, Rehoboth lifeguards said they did not see extra marine animals swimming closer to shore. Lt. Kevin Joseph said the dead fish were too rotten for bigger fish to eat.
