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A multi-species fish kill on the Neuse River between Stately Pines and Neuse Harbor was reported to Sound Rivers earlier this week.

According to Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop, the incident has been reported to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Dead fish include menhaden, mullet, croaker, flounder and other species, as well as crabs.

Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register said she heard back from NCDEQ’s Division of Water Resources about the potential cause of the fish kill.

“ … These types of kills are likely hypoxic events from bottom waters that have upwelled on the southern shoreline due to the strong and consistent southwest winds,” Environmental Supervisor Jill Paxson wrote in an email. “We typically see these events in the fall after the salinity stratification has time to build. But due to the cumulative low precipitation from the previous few years, the salt wedge has not been pushed downriver as far as it usually is. That’s the best summary for what we’re seeing at this point.”

Paxson said “heavy organic loading” from stormwater running off land into the water could be contributing to the problem.

Taylor explained: “The salt wedge she’s referring to naturally has lower levels of dissolved oxygen since saltwater holds on to less oxygen than freshwater. Since it sits at the bottom of the river, it’s not getting “churned up” so it has even less oxygen. So, when strong winds come in, the lower portion of the water column is brought up to the surface through upwelling (wind pushes upper freshwater layer to shore, lower saltwater layer moves up to replace it), and that sudden change in oxygen levels can have fatal effects on aquatic species that live in shallow and surface waters.”

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.