Dead Fish In NJ

A problem that is facing us in our own home state is very upsetting to all animal lovers and beach lovers alike. Millions of fish in the Raritan Bay have washed ashore, dead, overnight. In class, we performed a lab to discover why this happened and if there was a way to stop it. We had a model of a coastline of the Raritan Bay which, like in reality, is tilted so that all water will flow to the bay. On the model we placed colored waters which represented pesticide, fertilizer, auto oil, and also put objects on it that represented soil, sand, cow waste, and litter. After "raining" we saw the color of the water that was put into the "bay". We saw that the water was black. Next we learned about salt marshes. When we simulated a salt marsh by putting a sponge at the coast, the water came out cleaner, but not as much. We also now know that a salt marsh is not an option. But our teacher told us that when fertilizer goes into the bay, plankton multiplys using up all the oxygen. Now that there is no oxygen in the water, the fish all died and washed up on shore. To stop this we should cut down on fertilizers and let plants grow naturally. It is important to preserve our earth and not totally interfere/cancel out a group on the food chain.