LIHUE — Up to 1,000 small lanternfish and a smaller number of squid washed ashore Monday along Kalapaki Beach, on Kauai’s south-east coast. “Why they came up there, we have no idea right now,” said Don Heacock, a fisheries biologist
LIHUE — Up to 1,000 small lanternfish and a smaller number of squid washed ashore Monday along Kalapaki Beach, on Kauai’s south-east coast.
“Why they came up there, we have no idea right now,” said Don Heacock, a fisheries biologist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Heacock, who collected and preserved samples for future analysis, said it isn’t the first time the same two species have washed ashore together at Kalapaki.
On Jan. 20, 2009, hundreds of the deep-water lanternfish and a smaller number of squid were discovered along the same stretch of shoreline. At that time, Heacock told The Garden Island that it also wasn’t the first incident.
Heacock plans to send the frozen fish and squid samples to Dr. Thierry Work, head of Infectious Disease for the U.S. Geological Survey, on Friday.
While he couldn’t be certain without a further investigation, Heacock said it is unlikely the incident is the result of a disease.
“This is a vertebrate and invertebrate washing ashore at the same time,” he said. “If it was a disease they would all be the same species.”
A more likely scenario, he said, is that it is the result of something being dumped offshore, possibly human waste from a cruise ship.
“When they flush the toilet, it’s a big toilet,” he said.
The dead fish Monday measured between one and three inches in length, according to Heacock.
Lanternfish, which get their name for their ability to produce light, make up as much as 65 percent of the deep sea biomass and are among the most widely distributed and diverse of all vertebrate species, according to Sea and Sky.
Heacock was also called out to Poipu Monday in response to a dead turtle, which he is investigating.
