Thursday, March 5, 2009

LAKEWOOD PARK — “Hundreds and hundreds” of dead fish in Lake Ruce in this northern St. Lucie County neighborhood could be the result of a drier-than-normal dry season.

Patti Espiritu began noticing sick fish in the shallow water at the southern end of the lake behind her house on Arthurs Road. On Sunday, she started seeing dead fish, large-mouth bass at first, then almost exclusively tilapia.

“In the last couple of days, there have been hundreds and hundreds of them,” she said.

Tim Conwell and Anthony Sanchez of the Lakewood Park maintenance crew began picking up the dead and dying fish Thursday afternoon.

“There must be close to 1,000 of them,” Conwell said, “and more keep dying. We’ll probably be here all day today and tomorrow.”

An 18-year Lakewood Park resident, Conwell said fish aren’t dying at other lakes in the community, “but this has happened before at other lakes.” (more…)