controlling F behavior in various cases, carbonate mineral diagenesis is likely to have a 
major influence. 
1990 
Schmidt, T. W., and M. B. Robblee (1994) Causes of fish kills in the Flamingo area of 
Everglades National Park. Bull. Mar. Sci. . 54(3): 1083. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY.) During the summer/fall period of 1990, three large fish kills 
occurred in the Snake Bight area, east of Flamingo in north central Florida Bay. These 
events caused public concern which prompted the Park to initiate a study to determine 
if fish kills occurred as a result of stressful environmental conditions or in response to 
anthropogenic contaminants. In December funding was obtained to begin a study. The 
objectives of the study were to: (1) gather and summarize historical data on fish kills 
in park coastal waters; (2) establish a continuous water quality monitoring platform in 
Snake Bight; and (3) survey fish associated with a fish kill for potential anthropogenic 
contaminants. Based on summaries of historical park fish kill events, it was found that 
38 kills have occurred since 1944; seven took place during the passage of south Florida 
cold fronts while the remaining 31 occurred between March and November and appear 
to have resulted from hypoxic conditions due to local environmental extremes. Nearly 
half of the kills took place in the waters of either Florida or Whitewater Bays; 24% 
occurred east of Flamingo in Snake Bight. Over half of the Snake Bight kills were 
considered severe (1,000 to 100,000 fish reported as dead); most took place over the 
past 15 yrs. Snake Bight is an area characterized by extreme environmental conditions 
(i.e., severe seagrass die-off, poor water quality, elevated salinities, and hypoxia due 
to restricted tidal circulation and very shallow water), and relatively frequent fish 
kills. Presumably, fish kills result from significant drops in water temperature or by 
stress related hypoxia associated with these extreme environmental conditions. To 
date no substantive information is available to suggest that fish kills are caused by the 
disposal of pollutants in the Everglades National Park. It is possible that the effects of 
severe seagrass die-off east of Flamingo contributed to the three fish kills reported in 
Snake Bight during the summer-fall period of 1990. However, the causal factors 
involved in seasonal fish kills are unknown. To answer these questions, we need to 
continue collecting fish kill information, improve this documentation, monitor water 
quality data in relation to environmental conditions associated with a fish kill and, when 
necessary, analyze fish for potential contaminants. 
1990, 1993 
Schmidt, T. W. (1993) Report on fish kill investigations in the Flamingo area of the 
Everglades National Park. South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park, 
Homestead, FL. December 1993. 
During the late summer-early fall period of 1993, three fish kill events were 
documented in the Snake Bight area, east of Flamingo The most extensive kill in terms 
of size occurred in Garfield Bight in late august where the total numbers of dead fish 
were estimated between 5,450 to 7,150 and were observed over 1-mile of shoreline. 
The largest in terms of area (over 3 miles of shoreline affected), but not in mortality 
occurred in northwest Snake Bight during late September where the range of total 
numbers of fish killed was 3,300 to 5,400. The smallest in area and in fish mortality 
occurred in the Buttonwood Canal/Coot Bay boat ramp area of Flamingo during late 
October where a total kill was estimated between 950 and 1,100 fish. These fish kill 
events affected a variety of temperate and subtemperate species. These shallow 
coastal zone inhabitants were mostly bottom and near bottom feeders such as adult and 
sub-adult sized black and read drum, catfish, mullet, and spotted seatrout. They were 
the predominant native species affected while juvenile Mayan cichlids were the 
predominant non-native species involved. A combination, of physical conditions 
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