The Scientist News
Catherine Offord

Roughly 21,000 fish have died at a University of California, Davis, research center after apparently being exposed to toxic levels of chlorine released by the tanks’ decontamination system. The fish, which were discovered dead in their tanks at the Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture (CABA) last Tuesday (August 9), included Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and green and white sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris and A. transmontanus), species that are threatened or endangered in some parts of their ranges. Their deaths, experts say, could set back research at the center by years.

“We are devastated to report that a catastrophic failure has resulted in the loss of about 21,000 fish” at CABA, UC Davis said in a statement last Thursday. “The loss appears to be due to chlorine exposure, to which fish are especially sensitive,” it added, noting that an internal investigation and external review were underway to figure out exactly what went wrong.

Read full story here