Videos posted to social media showed boats ploughing through a blanket of dead fish smothering the water in Australia, with the surface barely visible underneath.
"These fish deaths are related to low oxygen levels in the water (hypoxia) as flood waters recede," the government said in a statement. "The current hot weather in the region is also exacerbating hypoxia, as warmer water holds less oxygen than cold water, and fish have higher oxygen needs at warmer temperatures." Previous fish kills at Menindee -- about 12 hours' drive west of Sydney -- have been blamed on a lack of water in the river due to prolonged drought, and a toxic algal bloom that stretched over 40 kilometres (24 miles). "Unfortunately this won't be the last," the NSW government warned in 2019.
