Investigation underway after dead fish spotted on Surrey river
The fish were spotted along a stretch of the River Mole, near Gatwick
An environment agency officer has said that around one hundred fish have died on a stretch of the River Mole, but suspects the number to be "much much higher".
Investigations are underway after dead fish were spotted on a part of the water near Gatwick. According to the Environment Agency, the investigations have already established that "dissolved oxygen levels are significantly reduced along the impacted stretch of river".
Joe Kitanosono, who is the Fisheries Officer for the Environment Agency, suggested the number of deceased fish is likely higher because of the movement of the river.
"Because of the nature of the river, and being outside, what we often find is that whebn fish die they get moved down by the river, birds pick them up and eat them. Although it's 100 fish roughly speaking, I would suspect it to be much much higher."
"We don't yet know what's caused the fish to die. We have several causes that we suspect are the reason for why it's happened, but at the moment we're still investigating this. We have got officers outside to try to trace the source or the cause of the fish mortality."
The dead fish were spotted on a stretch of the river near Gatwick. A statement from the Environment Agency said that "Officers are deploying equipment in an attempt to re-oxygenate the water. An investigation is being undertaken to establish whether the low dissolved oxygen is a result of pollution or natural causes.
Joe also explained what they think is causing the oxygen levels to be so low.
"WE have several reasons why we think this could be. We do know that there is some sort of excess organic matter which is taking a lot of the oxygen out of the river system. On top of that we are aware tat there has not been a lot of rain which hasn't helped either... it's a combination of all things which are having an impact, which is why the oxygen levels are so low."
People are also being encouraged to look out for fish who may be struggling.
"If they see fish in distress or fish gasping at the surface - we have an incident line that's 24/7, that's 0800807060."