Glennifer

[nevercatchmuch]

Anyone catching battered up fish from Glennifer? Caught two today and both looked terrible - rubbed skin (whiteish looking), sores. Will be sending pics to fish and wildlife.... Hope it is just my bad luck and not a sign that the lake is in trouble.

[nevercatchmuch]

Oil spill supposedly started yesterday.... I wonder if some has been leaking much longer. This is the sucker I caught on sunday june 3. Notice the green in the skin and the rotting. It was alive and fought suprisingly hard considering what a terrible condition it was in.

I just emailed SRD today and wish I hadn't procrastinated, but I thought it was just a random sick sucker when I didn't hear from anyone else catching sick fish....

[nevercatchmuch]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...oil-spill.html

[Kokanee9]

Good on both of you two for reporting these fish. Hopefully if anyone else finds any irregularities, that they report them also.

[Kokanee9]

Quoted from the news article above:

"Plains Midstream Canada says light sour crude oil has a strong petroleum odour but it does not pose a health or safety risk to the public."


I'd like to see someone from that company's office make a pot of coffee and drink it with some contaminated water.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by nevercatchmuch

Oil spill supposedly started yesterday.... I wonder if some has been leaking much longer. This is the sucker I caught on sunday june 3. Notice the green in the skin and the rotting. It was alive and fought suprisingly hard considering what a terrible condition it was in.

I just emailed SRD today and wish I hadn't procrastinated, but I thought it was just a random sick sucker when I didn't hear from anyone else catching sick fish....

Well if you ever wanted to be on TV....you have a pic that will get you on around 6 o'clock....

LC

[ReconWilly]

Originally Posted by Kokanee9

Quoted from the news article above:

"Plains Midstream Canada says light sour crude oil has a strong petroleum odour but it does not pose a health or safety risk to the public."


I'd like to see someone from that company's office make a pot of coffee and drink it with some contaminated water.

Xinfinity.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Kokanee9

Quoted from the news article above:

"Plains Midstream Canada says light sour crude oil has a strong petroleum odour but it does not pose a health or safety risk to the public."


I'd like to see someone from that company's office make a pot of coffee and drink it with some contaminated water.

Did they seriously say that? What a pile of B.S.!

And people wonder why there are a lot that come down hard on oil companies with attitudes like that.

Sicking.

[highwood]

Gentlemen, good luck proving the condition of these fish has anything to do with that spill. Although I admire your concerns, I feel it is highly unlikely that any of these abnormalities are due to the water contamination. Beat up fish are often caught in the spring...we all know how trying spawning can be

[nevercatchmuch]

highwood - have you seen a fish before like is in my photo? I've seen beat up but never, ever like that. 2009 was the last time I sent in pics to a fisheries biologist for red ulcers on a trout.
In any case, will let everyone know what the biologist says. I do find it odd that the 2 fish I caught were both ill looking.
p.s. I'm a girl

[nevercatchmuch]

one more pic - would be happy to hear from anyone who knows what this is caused by

[highwood]

Sorry, LADIES as well, I stand corrected. I have seen things similar, but not in that area. Keep us updated if your contact as any news.

[e40water12]

So sad for these fish. Oil companys need to start making better choices on the environment.

[damienelliott]

I seen a rocky mountain whitefish just down from dickson dam was laying in the shallows with big sores all over its back. Looked just like the ones on the sucker in the pics. Was laying in about 6" of water and didnt move, I could have picked it up Ididnt think anything of it but I would like to know what this is.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

It's sad to see these things happen . It's a real shame , a buddy of mine posted pictures on Facebook , it is really bad the shoreline soaked in oil , booms set up , a bird that looked like it was in for a Lilly bath , it's sick .

[BeeGuy]

brutal

[Alberta Bigbore]

horrible pic of that sucker. I hope the RDR isnt doomed

[nevercatchmuch]

@damienelliot, how long ago did you see that whitefish?

[Calgaryguy1977]

Since it isnt actually connected to glennifer lake this shouldnt affect Dickson pond should it? Or is the soil contaminated?

[nevercatchmuch]

calgaryguy - you're right - the trout pond should be ok. The pond is connected by pipe to the reservoir, but the levels are so low still that the water is a long way from the pipe (which I assume wouldn't allow water in anyway, probably just to let water out when needed).
If you are planning a trip out this weekend though, I'd rebook. Have heard from folks that it is very smelly out there.

[damienelliott]

Originally Posted by nevercatchmuch

@damienelliot, how long ago did you see that whitefish?

i seen the white last weekend friday afternoon i do believe

[nevercatchmuch]

calgaryguy - dickson pond is closed - road is closed off. not sure why.
no sign to indicate when it will be reopened.

the smell at the dam is unreal - very strong. They are letting lots of water out of the spillway. I don't understand why as rarely is water coming off the spillway there. Still tons of room in the lake - at least 10meters in most places, with lots totally unfilled and dry.

No birds around which was good. Apparently only one baby beaver has had to be treated thus far. I can't imagine what the damage is like 35km away at where the leak began.

[wolfkiller]

Plains Spokesperson: 'Catastrophe is a strong word, let's all agree to call it a whoopsie daisy

[nevercatchmuch]

Originally Posted by wolfkiller

Plains Spokesperson: 'Catastrophe is a strong word, let's all agree to call it a whoopsie daisy

Sickening.

[wolfkiller]

soon to be Alberta

[Sloughsharkjigger]

Originally Posted by wolfkiller

soon to be Alberta

I wish 25 gallons of gas was only $28 bucks.......

[nevercatchmuch]

Originally Posted by nevercatchmuch

Oil spill supposedly started yesterday.... I wonder if some has been leaking much longer. This is the sucker I caught on sunday june 3. Notice the green in the skin and the rotting. It was alive and fought suprisingly hard considering what a terrible condition it was in.

I just emailed SRD today and wish I hadn't procrastinated, but I thought it was just a random sick sucker when I didn't hear from anyone else catching sick fish....

Hi everyone,
I got a great response back from a fisheries biologist from SRD about the variety of possibilities that could explain the green stuff and appearance of the sucker. Thought some of you might be interested:

"Unfortunately, it is hard to tell from just looking at a lesion what is the cause (as there are numerous causes).
Mostly, these erosive types of lesions involve bacterial organisms of the Flavobacterium species; depending on the water temperatures, they could be cold-loving bacteria – to ~10-15°C (Fl. psychrophilum) or, with some water temperatures warming up (15-17°C+) we might see Fl. columnare. These organisms, respectively, cause what we call ‘cold water disease’ and ‘columnaris’ disease. These organisms are ubiquitous in the water & we’ll see sick fish under certain conditions/temperatures.

Sometimes, the erosions are triggered first by parasites (some, so small, that you can only see microscopically), others might be triggered by fish ‘lice’ – Argulus species, which can particularly affect the head region, can be numerous & roam around on the fish – they could look brown or greenish colored, almost translucent, about the size of a flake of oatmeal; they can scurry, but often leave the fish. [I’ve seen them on the wall of a cooler, rather than on the fish; have seen this with suckers also]. The parasites cause the first insult, then the bacteria take over.

You indicated that the fish was frozen; unfortunately, both of those bacteria are killed on freezing & thawing, thus the sample would not be useful for culture. Protozoan parasites (the microscopic ones) would also be destroyed.

Some other bacteria, that also normally colonize the water, can also potentially cause skin lesions (Aeromonas spp, A. salmonicida, Pseudomonas spp, vibrio spp, Mycobacteria, etc.) Some of these may survive a freeze-thaw, but detection of such wouldn’t necessarily give us a cause, as they could be just contaminants from the water (and the actual causative agent gone with the freezing).

We could test the fish for you, & let you know if we find anything significant, but, if we didn’t find something significant, it wouldn’t be surprising (considering the freeze-thaw). That would require that the fish remain frozen, be bagged & packed with ice (in a cooler) to get it to a F&W office, where they too could hold it frozen until it could be delivered (frozen) to us.
I don’t know where you are located, as to what office would be closest to you?"

[nevercatchmuch]

p.s. the pic of the sucker is near the top of this thread for those of you who are interested