Fish Kill in LEH Twp Lagoon: ‘Worst Smell in My Entire Life’

Authorities with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection say a massive fish kill has piled up in a lagoon on Osborn Island that residents are describing as "absolutely disgusting."

Huge Fish Kill Causes Rotten Odor

Residents of the Osborn Island community in Little Egg Harbor Township have been dealing with a rancid smell since the weekend caused by thousands of dead fish rotting in the sun.

"NJDEP Fish & Wildlife says they are aware of the dead fish issue in the lagoon located in Ocean County. They say warm temperatures and poor water quality are to blame.

Staff determined that poor water quality resulting from warmer temperatures and low dissolved oxygen in the lagoon resulted in the fish mortality in the lagoon. Fish & Wildlife staff determined that this was an isolated event, and most of the dead fish will naturally be removed from the lagoon by the tides, or by tide flow."

"It's disgusting, it is the worst smell in my entire life. It even goes inside the house. I burnt every candle I could possibly find and now I'm in my infusers," Debbie Wuss, who lives near the lagoon, told CBS 3 Philadelphia.

Not the First Time the Fish Kill Has Happened

Neighbors in the area of Kentucky and Louisiana drives in Little Egg Harbor Township say something similar happened last summer and they have had it with the smell.

There is also a problem of seagulls attracted to the fish smell.

"The birds are destroying the tops of the houses. They're going all over the cars, all over your boats," resident Bob O'Brien told CBS 3.

Another neighbor said that everything you would normally do to enjoy your home on the water in the summer has stopped because of the horrendous smell.

People living in the area don't need to be reminded, but health officials are warning against swimming in the water until the dead fish problem is taken care of.