
It has been pretty hard not to notice the ongoing mass deaths since the start of January 2011, starting with 5000 blackbirds falling to their death with no explanation to 2 million fish washing up on the Brazilian coast. One thing that I noticed was that plenty experts where quick to jump forward and proclaim this to be normal. The journalists seem to lap up excuse after excuse, even when inconsistencies appeared in their own work, begging the question, “Do you not investigate your own articles?”. I dread to think how many cases are not being reported.
Let's just look at the main excuse that has been put forward by these experts:
Lakes, rivers, seas are being labelled as too cold or frozen, which has killed the fish, crabs, seals, octopuses and 2 ducks.
Let's examine the truth:
Q: The Lake/River/Pond has frozen do all the fish die?
A: Only the top layer of the lake or river freezes. Underneath the frozen upper layer, the water remains in its liquid form and does not freeze. Also, oxygen is trapped beneath the layer of ice. As a result, fish and other aquatic animals find it possible to live comfortably in the frozen lakes and ponds.
Q: Will the whole lake/pond/river be below freezing point?
A: During winter months in colder countries the outside or atmospheric temperature is very low - it drops to below freezing - and the upper layers of water in the lakes and ponds start cooling. When the temperature of the surface layers falls to 4 °C, the water body acquires maximum density and sinks down. The water that sinks down displaces water below, and the lower layers of water simultaneously rise up. This also gets cooled to 4 °C and again sinks down.
When the temperature of the water body finally goes below 4 °C, the density or heaviness of water decreases and as a result water does not sink down. The surface water finally freezes at 0 °C while the lower part still remains at 4 °C. The light frozen layer of ice floats on top.
Q: Will the fish freeze like ice cubes?
A: The body fluid of an ordinary fish can solidify if the temperature of the surrounding water drops below -5 °C. So Arctic and Antarctic fish have adjusted to their surroundings in an interesting manner.
Certain species of cod, flatfish and polar fish have a reduced metabolic rate and produce antifreeze molecules called glycoprotein to reduce the freezing point of their body fluids. One could look at it as the fishy version of bears hibernating, a survival tactic that has seen these finned friends outlive many other creatures on Earth.
So lets recap - Fish and marine life do not die due to cold, water does not lose its oxygen when a lake/pond or river freezes and fish do not turn into ice cubes.
So my question to the experts: What is killing our Fish and sea-life??
And to the journalists: When did you stop asking questions?
Don't worry, I haven’t forgotten the other animals and the excuses provided for their demise. To be continued.........