Thousands of fish found dead in park pond

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — The discovery of thousands of dead fish in a pond at a popular Bartow County park had dozens of families wondering what caused the massive kill.

The park's director, Greg Anderson, told Channel 2's Chris Jose the culprits are ducks, geese and even the fish themselves.

Anderson said there's too much fecal matter in the water, killing all the fish.

“We've never seen this before. Ever. The whole eight years we've lived here. It's never looked like this,” park visitor Nicole Knott told Jose.

Visitors at Dellinger Park in Cartersville first noticed the problem Wednesday. Four days later, the dead fish had become the talk of the town.

“We're all in shock,” Knott said.

The fish kill has left people with plenty of questions.

“It's like what happened? What's going on? What made it do this?” park visitor Kristy Scott said.

“I don't know. Is this water contaminated or what?” Jonathan Lawrence asked.

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After a massive cleanup effort Monday, the Bartow County Lake is now free of dead fish.

Officials armed with bags, nets and boats started scooping the dead fish from the water and from the shore.

Kathy Farnon, who walks her dog around the pond daily, applauds the quick cleanup.

Anderson told Jose that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources tested the water Thursday and discovered the oxygen levels were too low.

“So how do you ensure this doesn't happen again?” Jose asked Anderson.

“I don't know we can ensure it doesn't happen again,” Anderson said. “This is just nature's way of getting it back in balance.”

The city added aerators to the lake to increase the oxygen flow and will be adding predatory fish, largemouth bass to eat all of those smaller fish.

The city told Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach that the public is not to feed the wildlife. Duck, geese and fish-feed boxes in the area have all been locked up.

Anderson said an algae bloom killed thousands of fish in the pond a few years ago.

The city hopes things will be back in balance and able to host their first fishing event in June.

Cox Media Group