Death on the Blackwater

Today, I slipped into the waters of the River Blackwater beneath Lover’s Leap, downstream from Mallow, hoping to capture some of the local river life.

What I saw instead distressed me. It made me angry. It made me sad. In less than 100 metres of river, I counted more than a hundred dead or dying brown trout and European eels.

I’ve since learned that more than eight kilometres of river upstream have been affected by what is believed to be a fungal infection, now under investigation by Irish authorities.

For months, I’ve been hearing about the devastation to marine life in South Australia caused by an unprecedented Karenia mikimotoi algal bloom. My experience on the River Blackwater today gave me a small, bitter taste of their grief.


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