AVENTURA, Fla. – Hundreds of dead fish have been found floating in the water in South Florida neighborhoods.
Residents in the Highland Lakes neighborhood of Aventura said they're fed up with the smell of dead fish that they've endured since Friday.
"The smell is extremely strong and it's hard to even step out your door," Dr. Martin Karp told Local 10 News.
Rabbi Moishe Kievman said his children step outside holding their noses.
"If the wind's right, it's in the house," resident Larry Gordon said.
Elaine Hopper is dealing with the same thing, only this time in the water off Red Road and Southwest 35th Street in Coral Gables.
"This is a lot of kill, and it stinks like the dickens," she told Local 10.
Residents don't seem to know why all the fish are dying, but there are several theories swimming around.
"We had severe lightning around here," Hopper said. "It must have struck the water."
Gordon suggested it might be a chemical in the water.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said that people may be alarmed by the occurrence, but that the fish kills are a result of natural events, primarily lack of oxygen in the water.
Other reasons for fish kills include algae blooms, human interaction with the environment and cold weather.
"If something like this is happening not only here but down in the Gables, then we have a bigger issue," Karp said.
Whatever it is, residents just want it cleaned up.
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