MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Ed Doney – “ENID, Okla. — A dead fish floating in a lake is not uncommon, but Enid officials were notified Tuesday of a sight rarely seen. Nearly 1,000 dead crappie were floating at Meadowlake Park.

‘Some had been decaying for three or four days,’ Rob Camp said, Deputy Director of Enid Public Works. ‘We found some, just regular skeletons.’

Camp said they found no evidence of contamination and other lake wildlife seem to be fine.

But their pH tests revealed the lake water’s acid level was too low.

Why? This summer’s record heat.

Water this hot throws off a balanced ecosystem and affects more sensitive fish, like crappie.

‘They’re not as strong or as versatile a fish that can survive in those types of environments,’ Camp said. ‘So they’re usually the first ones to die off.’

Micah Holmes, with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said their biologists tested the lake water Tuesday and blame low oxygen levels.” Read more.