The little lady and I went out this weekend for a little swim in the lake outside of Lausanne and were a bit disturbed to see little fish, dead, floating all around us in the water, up and down the shore.

No one else seemed to pay any mind to it, so we went in ("when in Rome"), but I couldn't enjoy freshwater swimming like I normally do - perhaps I was spoiled living in rural VT, USA.

Anyone know the cause? Is it location (outside of a city), time of year or is something else going on???

Maybe someone had been using them as bait whilst fishing and tossed back the ones he didn't want or need.

fishes die too....

it can happen...


(it's Lac Léman when you're no more in Geneva )

doesn't very hot weather affect the oxygen levels in water, and so kills fish, if there is lots of weed that'll also do it (can't remember the name of the weed)

Seem to recall a load of fish dying in a lake in london last year due to the weather making the weed grow and taking all the oxygen

It was a bite too widespread for that...and it doesn't explain the locals' lack of concern.


Yes, but there's generally a reason for such events.

(and it's whatever I choose to call it when it's my thread :P )

Only for French-speaking Swiss.

Tom

For French-speaking French, Belgians etc. too.

OK, just to knock this on the head:

Lake Geneva = tourist

Lac Léman = "local"/pretentious know-it-all

Happy now?

Some, perhaps, but far from all.

Tom

I think the weed is called Elodea Canadensis (Canadian waterweed)

Fixed that for you.

Is that not how it works across Switzerland - i.e. Place names (including lakes) change depending what language you are speaking in at the time?

would everyone stop carping on about the name?

its exactly the same plaice, for cods sake

I was at Ouchy on Saturday on the shore of Genfersee wishing I'd brought my swimming stuff, until I saw a notice advising against it on account of the high levels of bacteria close to shore.

Probably that is what killed the fish.

Next time, I'll try Lake Constance.

Lots O' Dead Fish... on the Lutry beach about a week ago. My kids made a nice pile of them and kindly placed it all at my feet.

Our Swiss professor friend explained that it happens every year around this time. It is, in fact, a result of the heat, and thus a natural phenomenon. No cause for alarm.

I did, however, have the kiddies wash their little hands before leaving la plage.

That is what worries me about swimming in lakes - the fact that they are a contained mass and are not regularly flushed out by tides.

Yes, but our dead fish surfaced just after a week of intense rain, with streams/rivers adding to the mix. Wouldn't that be a time of lower bacteria count?

If you're worried about the quality of the water, you should find on the website of the town (where you go to swim in the lake) a "quality of water" page.

Why are you letting your kids handle them. No one wants to see a pile of dead fish just plankton the beach.

I saw what you did there, but I've fixed it for you.