SARASOTA COUNTY - A fish kill on the Myakka River in early April was likely caused by toxic algae, according to an inspection by county scientists.
Area residents suspected that the fish were killed by toxins from an abandoned dolomite mine on a property near the river.
Sarasota County scientists took water samples from a canal leading from the mine pit, which is now a lake choked with invasive water hyacinth and surrounded by Brazilian pepper. Samples did not indicate any toxic substances that could have led to the fish kill, the county said.
Scientists suspect that the fish died after heavy rains washed nitrogen and phosphorus from the land into the water.
Nitrogen and phosphorus, found in animal waste, fertilizers and decaying matter, can trigger algae blooms.
Water samples indicated that algae blooms had been present.
The scientists had also said reduced oxygen in the water could have been a contributing factor. The rain flushed runoff into the river following an extended dry period.
Hundreds of dead fish washed ashore or floated past homes on the Myakka River between Jacaranda Boulevard and Border Road in early April.
People who live near the river or boated on it said the fish kill was extraordinary.
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