Huge fish kill near Sebastian Inlet, hundreds of dead fish on shore

SEBASTIAN — Expanses of rotting fish from a fish kill continue sloshing back and forth in the tides on the inland south side of the ocean inlet at the Sebastian Inlet State Park, Park Manager Terry Coulliette said Tuesday.

And he is waiting for Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Commission biologists to determine the cause of the dead fish that started to surface as early as Friday. State biologists have taken water samples.

"Most (of the fish) are bait fish," he said. "I only saw one game fish of any size."

The dead fish are principally along the shoreline on the southwest side of the inlet that links the ocean with the Indian River Lagoon.

The smell is so strong "it irritated my throat," said Vero Beach resident Mary-Frances Womack, who went to the inlet at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday with her brother, Rick Branan, to view the sunrise and surrounding scenery.

Instead, they were "overwhelmed by what we saw," Branan said.

Both Womack and her brother described the number of fish as being in the millions, they said while emphasizing the "m" in millions.

Still, Coulliette said the amount of dead fish is smaller than the numbers that died in early 2010 because of sustained cold that turned the lagoon water very chilly.

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