[Mike]

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The Associated Press Apr 1, 2005

A state task force is investigating the deaths of hundreds of fish in
Peninsula waters last week and this week.

An algal bloom that is harmful to humans and animals was found in one
creek where dead fish were found, and Department of Environmental
Quality spokesman Bill Hayden said yesterday that officials are
trying to determine whether it was connected to kills in nearby
waters.

A state health-department spokesman that fish were found dead in the
Poquoson River, the southwest branch of Back River, the East River,
and in the Queens Creek and Taskinas Creek areas off the York River.

Reddish water — an indication of algal-bloom activity — was noted
in the Taskinas Creek area March 25, a health-department statement
said. Test results from the James City County creek showed a high
concentration of a type of pfiesteria, an algal bloom that is harmful
to humans and animals.

“What’s unusual is the time of year it’s doing it,” health-department
spokesman Larry Hill said. Algal blooms usually occur in warmer
water, he said.

Some scientists believe that pfiesteria killed fish and sickened
humans exposed to the waters of the Pocomoke River in Maryland in
1997.

The state task force looking into the cause of the fish kills
includes members from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the
Department of Environmental Quality and Old Dominion University, as
well as the health department.