A lake in Queens became a death trap for dozens of healthy fish, but it looks like experts have found a way to make it safe for them again. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.
It's a popular spot to look at the fish and maybe catch a few, but on Wednesday, something strange was happening to the fish in Kissena Lake in Flushing.
"I've never seen the large fish floating on top of the water gasping for air, and it was really a concern," said one person at the lake.
That concern turned to worry the next day when dozens of fish went belly up, floating along the shoreline.
"I saw so many big fish, small fish, baby fishes, all floating," said a person at the lake. "They died. Like, suffocate."
"The Parks Department was scooping them up yesterday with a net and throwing them in the garbage pails," said another.
One hundred and fifty fish died. The lake is home to several types, including carp, bass and American eel.
Some residents were quick to point fingers at the Parks Department, saying the water is dirty, but a worker said that's not why the fish died.
So what caused this problem? The Parks Department says the lake was low on oxygen, likely due to an algae bloom as a result of rains.
The Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that the lake was low on oxygen, and on Thursday, Parks moved to address the issue.
"We brought all our pumps down here and we started pumping water out of the lake, throwing it up into the air to try to catch as much oxygen as possible and re-oxygenate the water," said Gus Menocal, Queens supervisor of plumbers for the Parks Department.
By late Thursday evening, the solution appeared to be working. The fish started congregating where the water was landing with the oxygen.
"They've gotten stronger. They're actually swimming around now," Menocal said. "So we like to call that fish resuscitation that we did for them today."
The pumping ended late Thursday evening, but workers will keep an eye on the water and the fish over the next few days.